Landing a role in a franchise film can provide a huge boost to an actor’s career, though many performers find a wealth of success on their own. Christian Bale is a mega star, and while he has had some great movies, he benefitted greatly from starring as Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy.
Fans have come to admire the work that Bale has done in his career, and many have picked out some roles that he could have excelled in had he been given the chance. One such role was in the Star Wars franchise, and this would have changed things for Bale in profound ways years back. Let’s take a look at who fans think Christian Bale should have played in the Star Wars franchise.
Christian Bale Has Had An Incredible Career
When looking at the biggest and best actors of this era, few people come close to stacking up with Christian Bale. Having been a performer since he was a kid, Bale has always shined in his projects, and through the years, he has shown that his immense talent is rare and should be appreciated while it’s still around. The actor has been in many successful projects, including the Dark Knight trilogy, American Hustle, American Psycho, and a whole lot more. He’s even lent his voice to movies like Howl’s Moving Castle and Pocahontas. The man can legitimately do it all, and with the slate of projects that he has lined up, Bale is going to remain at the top of Hollywood for the foreseeable future.
Despite all of the success that he has found, Bale has missed out on some great opportunities. The actor has missed out on movies like Jarhead, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and even Titanic. At two different points, he even found himself up for a role in the Star Wars franchise.
Bale Has Been Up For ‘Star Wars’ Before
Through the years, there have been at least two separate instances of Christian Bale being considered for a role in Star Wars. The most recent role was that of Tobias Beckett, who appeared in Solo.
Bale, however, was reluctant to discuss his potential involvement in the franchise years back when the prequels were getting underway. According to Dork Side of the Force, “The Academy Award winner has never confirmed or denied these rumors, and in fact, acted rather coy about the possibility of joining the prequel trilogy back in 2000. When promoting his film American Psycho (2000), the star teased a new project he was signed on for, and when asked directly whether or not it was Star Wars, Bale reportedly said: “You wouldn’t have heard that from me. My lips are sealed.”
Landing a role in a Star Wars project would have added another amazing credit to Bale’s career, but this has yet to happen. This, however, didn’t stop fans from expressing which character they think Bale would have been great as.
Fans Think He Would Have Been A Great Anakin
In a Reddit post talking about actors who would have been great as Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy, a number of interesting names were thrown around. One name that really stuck out was Christian Bale, who had already shown himself to be an exceptional performer prior to the release of The Phantom Menace.
Per the post, “Younger Christian Bale. Would have pulled off the inner conflict and darkness so much better.” It seems like people in the thread agreed with this take, with one person even referencing his performance in Empire of the Sun as proof. Bale was just a kid when he appeared in the film, and he delivered an exceptional performance the people still rave about. Clearly, he had the chops even when he was 10, and by the time the prequel trilogy was getting underway, he had only gotten better.
Eventually, Hayden Christensen was the one selected for the role of Anakin Skywalker, and he made the most of the dialogue that he had to work with. The actor took a lot of flack for his performance in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but over time, fans have given him the benefit of the doubt while considering the script itself. Thankfully, Christensen will be coming back to reprise his role in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
Christian Bale could have done some great things in a galaxy far, far away, and as the franchise continues to expand, we could very well see him in a Star Wars project at some point. He is, after all, making his MCU debut next year.