Christian Bale on Reinventing Frankenstein for The Bride!

Set in 1930s Chicago, the Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed film sees a lonely Frankenstein (Bale) enlist Dr. Euphronious to create him a companion, resulting in the rebirth of a young woman, a.k.a. “The Bride,” played by Jessie Buckley. A response to the classic Bride of Frankenstein, which was itself inspired by a minor subplot in the original Frankenstein novel by Mary Shelley, Gyllenhaal’s version sees The Bride not only reanimated, but with a backstory, and a real shot at romance with Frank.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan for The Bride!‘s release, Bale reveals what made him take on the iconic role, and why it was important for him to do his research before reinventing the 95-year-old sci-fi horror character, made famous by the original Frankenstein’s Monster actor, Boris Karloff:

Christian Bale: Why? Why do it? You know what I mean? Because it’s been defined by [Boris] Karloff. It’s been defined by Mary Shelley’s book. Why do it again? And then you realize there have been hundreds — over a hundred portrayals. And I started trying to watch some of them. I couldn’t go through all of them, but I just decided to focus on Karloff, who, regardless of whether you’re a fan of the book or not, I defy you to say that you don’t imagine Frankenstein as Karloff — Frankenstein’s monster. And so I came up with a story where Frank was actually real, who Mary Shelley had heard talk of, that he was a man who’d been abused in terrible experiments. [Luigi] Galvani, the Italian scientist, who was real, who was doing experiments at that time, with frogs and reanimating tissue and whatnot, that Mary Shelley, in that competition wrote about [in] a book — incredible book.

In the 1931 film aptly titled, Frankenstein, Karloff portrays the Monster as a tragic and misunderstood creature rather than purely a villain. He is physically imposing, with a flat head, heavy eyelids, and neck bolts, giving him a frightening appearance, but his behavior often reflects confusion and childlike innocence. The Monster struggles to understand the world and reacts violently, mainly when he is frightened, mistreated, or rejected. Karloff’s performance emphasizes the creature’s loneliness and vulnerability, making him both terrifying and sympathetic.

For Bale, however, making the effort to treat the “monster” as less of a character people were “terrified” of, and more of a man who has simply been “treated like a monster, and therefore has behaved like a monster,” was paramount:

Christian Bale: Some of it was right, some of it was wrong. Frank had in that book, on his person — we don’t see it in the film, but he checks through it. Karloff then heard witnesses talk about, “No, he had a scar. There’s a scar here,” but got the flat head wrong. And then other people were saying he was eight foot tall, but it’s because they were terrified of him. He was six foot five — I had to put lifts in. But making him more of a big man, a man who is being treated like a monster, and therefore, has behaved like a monster.

Delving further into the prep that went into playing the role, Bale told ScreenRant that he took a bold and big swing with Frankenstein, similar to the approach he took when embodying Bruce Wayne in the Batman franchise, adding you have to be “prepared to really humiliate yourself” when you “take a risk” on a beloved, and previously played character:

Christian Bale: Look, you have to reinvent it for yourself. You have to have a total sense of ownership for it, and therefore you’ve got to go with your gut instinct, which I did early on with that. And thank God Chris Nolan said, “Yeah, that’s what I’m looking for as well.” And you’ve got to be prepared to really try to humiliate yourself with it, and take a risk. And only when you do that, can you actually try to possibly succeed with characters such as these.

More On Bale’s Decision-Making Process For Taking On Films Like The Bride!

ScreenRant: Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein on a dare, which is mentioned in the beginning, and it’s what you do with those opportunities that matter. But do you have a pivotal moment in your career that was a happenstance that people wouldn’t know about?

Christian Bale: Well, there’s many different reasons for making movies, and just like going to see a movie, right? You love a movie or hate a movie, often depending on the mood that you’re in, right?

You might revisit a movie later and decide, “Oh man, that was not what I thought it was.” Or, “Oh my God, that was so much better than I realized at the time.” And the same things happen with decisions of making movies. There can be things happening in your life that make it fascinating at the time, or you’re just in a weird head-space that day, and you make a rash decision, and then you just have to live with it. So it’s life, but you make the best of it.

Thankfully, you get films like this where there was no hesitation about it, and never has been —throughout filming, and then in seeing what Maggie [Gyllenhall] did afterward — she’s really defined herself as an extraordinary talent as a director by doing this. And in witnessing how she handled herself, she is a very strong woman, indeed, and I think a fantastic talent to look out for in the future.

Check out more of our Bride! coverage here: