15 Roles Christian Bale ALMOST Played

Though he may be unpredictable and often difficult, Christian Bale is pretty great at self-preservation. He's always made good, discerning choices when it comes to his acting roles. (Well, for the most part. Let's try and forget Exodus: Gods and Kings.) This is how he's ended up with an Oscar, and this is why he's a respected, though potentially disliked, celebrity. Christian Bale movies are usually always a safe bet in the box office.

Before his big break in American Psycho, however, the ambitious Bale tried his best to become a Hollywood star - and always seemed to trail behind Leonardo DiCaprio. You may actually be surprised to find that there are stories of Christian Bale auditioning for several high profile Hollywood roles before he became a household name. Later, once he finally hit Hollywood gold, Bale turned down several roles which still might have sent him down an entirely different career path. 

This list of roles that Christian Bale almost played reveals, among other things, that Christian Bale could have potentially been the next Hollywood heartthrob. If one certain director by the name of James Cameron had just made one slightly different casting choice, then Bale never would have gone on to forge a career playing gruff, damaged weirdos. Christian Bale movies run the gamut of quirky to insane, but it's difficult to think of him as a romantic lead for teen girls. 

Let your imagination run wild and check out this list of movies that Christian Bale almost starred in. There are roles that Christian Bale auditioned for, and roles that Bale turned down once he had that luxury. Most of them will surprise you. 

Bale dropped out of W when he became dissatisfied with the prosthetic makeup he had to wear. Josh Brolin ended up playing Bush; W went on to become a flop; Bale went on to fight robots in Terminator: Salvation. 

It's hard to imagine anyone else as Jack Dawson, but Christian Bale came close. In a slightly xenophobic move, director James Cameron opted for DiCaprio because he didn't want two Brits in his lead roles.

Bale was asked to cameo in Rules of Attraction, which exists in the same world as American Psycho. (Both are adaptations of Bret Easton Ellis novels.) For undisclosed reasons, Bale turned down the opportunity. 

Rumors abound that Bale auditioned for the wonderfully cheesy '90s Batman films by Joel Schumacher, but Bale denies it. He's probably just embarrassed by how badly he wanted to be in a nipple suit.

Bale was considered - along with Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, and Tobey MacGuire - for the role of Pirates' resident heartthrob. Orlando Bloom won the role thanks to a popularity surge following Lord of the Rings.

The director of Syriana tapped Bale for Matt Damon's role, but Bale turned it down because of his prior commitment to the beautiful backlit forests of The New World. 

Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio both turned down the title role of Steve Jobs after Jobs's widow personally begged them not to star in the not-so-flattering biopic. Bale was actually far enough in the production to read with other auditioning actors before he pulled out.

Once the movie shifted away from Sony and into the hands of Universal, Laurene Powell Jobs's pleas quieted down. Michael Fassbender went on to play the part of Steve Jobs.

After American Psycho, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli straight up offered Bale the role of 007. He turned it down, claiming that Bond exemplified “every despicable stereotype about England and British actors.” He told Broccoli that he had “already played a serial killer.”

Ridley Scott briefly considered Bale for the role of Robin Hood, and was still in talks with him until a week before costume fittings began. 

In a rare move, Bale lost this role to someone other than Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, Leo lost this role too. It turns out they both dodged a bullet: The film, which aimed to reinvent the war movie, massively under-performed with critics and audiences.