Mumbai, February 26 – Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale has spoken about playing Frank in the upcoming film “The Bride!”, and said that his character is quite old-fashioned in his approach to romance.
The film is inspired by the 1935 film "Bride of Frankenstein", which was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus".
Bale said: "Frank is quite old-fashioned in his approach to how romance should be - he's a huge fan of black-and-white movies where you see these gentlemen and ladies dancing with top hats, and for him, that's the image of the ultimate love."
"And then when he meets The Bride, and he sees that she's a different kind of person, but he adores watching her, because she's so much more exciting than anything he could have imagined."
"We also see that he's very naive and innocent in many ways, despite all the crimes he's committed, and he sees how dynamic and full of life she is. He can't quite do it himself, because he's used to a life of restraint and staying out of trouble—but he loves seeing her live that way."
Given this almost surreal dynamic, Bale delves further into Jessie playing The Bride and their experience working together. Bale says, "I've only seen Jessie in "The Lost Daughter". Maggie had told me that she was a generational talent, but I don't generally like to watch other people's work, because I just like to see them as the characters they are. And she was amazing.
"She, Sandy (costume designer Powell), and Nadia (Stacey), who did the makeup, and everyone else, really nailed it. She looked fantastic. And the first scenes that I had with her, looking at her and thinking, 'She's The Bride, completely.' What impressed me most is that she's wide open, full of energy, and completely reckless in a wonderful way."
"You don't want people playing it safe. There's a danger to her, going off the rails, and she's brilliant. Why would we do anything else? And also, something else I love is that I personally get a lot of satisfaction from embarrassing myself, from thinking, 'This might go really wrong, but I don't care, we'll figure it out.'"
"And I felt like I could see that in her as well, a lack of restraint, no sense of wanting to be overly poised or controlled, someone really pushing their boundaries. I also feel like she has that same love—and hatred—and fascination with people, which I relate to deeply, and it keeps the work endlessly exciting."
The film also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Academy Award nominees Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz.
A lonely "Frank" (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman, and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A First Love Films / In The Current Company Production, A Maggie Gyllenhaal Film: THE BRIDE!
The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will be released in India on March 6.