With director Terry George’s The Promise opening this weekend in theaters, I recently landed an exclusive interview with Christian Bale. During the wide-ranging conversation he talked about why he wanted to be involved in this project, how the movie only happened because of Kirk Kerkorian, memorable moments from filming, Turkey’s unwillingness to acknowledge the genocide, and more. In addition, Bale talked about possible working with Adam McKay again on his Dick Cheney movie, what he remembers about making Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, why he wanted to be part of Scott Cooper’s Hostiles, if he wants to direct, will he be involved in another superhero franchise, working with Andy Serkis on Jungle Book, how he’s always on the verge of quitting, and so much more.

If you’re not familiar with The Promise, it’s the first film to take on the Armenian genocide that took place in the early 20th century. Directed by Hotel Rwanda filmmaker Terry George, the film stars Oscar Isaac as a medical student whose relationship with a fellow Armenian girl (played by Charlotte Le Bron) strikes up a rivalry with the woman’s American journalist boyfriend (played by Bale) and becomes downright dangerous as the Ottoman Empire begins to crumble. As the Turks begin rounding up any and all Armenians in what would become a genocide, these three characters try to navigate their way to survival. The film also stars Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Sarafyan, Jean Reno, James Cromwell, Daniel Giménez Cacho, and Marwan Kenzari. For more on the film, watch the trailer or read Adam Chitwood’s review.

COLLIDER: Do you enjoy doing press more from home or at the Four Seasons?

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Image via Open Road Films

CHRISTIAN BALE: Well, there’s room service at the Four Seasons and the sheets are always nice and clean.

I accept that, that’s a good answer. I would imagine that you get offered a number of projects. What was it about The Promise that said “I have to do this”?

BALE: I’m always on the verge of quitting. I hate what I do, but I love it as well. And occasionally, there’ll be something which I surprise myself with my choice. It keeps you going. It can result in big mistakes but sometimes can result in, you know, sort of happy accidents. This project came primarily because of my lack of education is why I did this project. I had no idea about the Armenian genocide, I’d never heard of it in my life. I didn’t go to school that much and I didn’t listen much when I was there, possibly they taught us about it but I didn’t hear them if they did, and I found that a little embarrassing, because as I read this script, I was watching the news and was very interested and appalled by what was happening with the Yazidis at the time. And if you recall, there was a tragic event where they had been surrounded on a mountain and were under siege of being killed by ISIS. And I’m reading a script a hundred years prior, and there are people on the mountain, under siege, being surrounded and killed, and so it was incredibly topical for me, and a huge learning curve. It made me realize just how easy it is for monumental events to happen in history, but for those facts just to be buried, and realizing that the lack of consequences for this Armenian genocide may well have provoked many of the other genocides that we’ve witnessed since. Adolf Hitler’s comment of, “Does anyone remember the Armenian genocide?” Since this film has been made, the very critical awareness we’ve had of just how important good journalism is and we continue to have that debate, it's existed forever but it’s become very obvious in America now. That really drew me in, and then in speaking with Terry, but also with the producers, that it was the first film where I’d ever heard them say 100% of their proceeds were going to go to charities involved in the nature of what the film is about. These proceeds will go Enough Project, which is all about holding people accountable for genocide and actually really sort of getting documentation, proof. And discovering that they were sincere about that, they weren’t meaning to say a small portion or a miniscule number that sounded good for the press; it was 100%, and that just really intrigued me. Then there was the highly ambitious effort that Terry had, which was that he was a great fan of sort of sweeping, romantic epics. David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago, he’s a great fan of Warren Beatty’s Reds, and he wanted to attempt that, and then you just kind of sit and see what project keeps cropping up in your mind and this one did.

I was going to say that the type of film that this is, is incredibly hard to make nowadays. I’m very impressed you guys were able to pull this off.

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Image via Open Road Films

BALE: Well, it only happened because it was a single financier, Kirk Kerkorian, and that’s it. People have been trying to make not this kind of movie, but specifically a movie about the Armenian genocide, and there have been some made, but not on this skill. And people have been trying to make this film for some time, I mean, Kirk Kerkorian himself, three times when he was running MGM was unable to make this film despite his best efforts, because each time it was thwarted because of interests whose interests were not in having the film made. So, many years in the making, and that was of course intriguing to me as well.

One of the things that really frustrates me, and it seems like it’s happening more and more nowadays which is shocking, is when people or countries just won’t acknowledge facts. I definitely have to ask, how do you feel about Turkey’s unwillingness to acknowledge the genocide that took place of the Armenian people?

BALE: Right. It’s, well, confusing but not that confusing. Confusing because the evidence just seems to be irrefutable, you know? The US, because it was not at war with Turkey at the time, had many Turkish allies. The Turkish allies themselves provided accounts of what was occurring. Photographic evidence was hard to come by because the Turkish authorities made that illegal, however there was the German soldier that was able to document photographically. But you’ve got the crumbling of an empire and the birth of a new nation. Perhaps people don’t want to have to look at the birthing pains and recognize the atrocity that occurred. Armenians, yes, and Greeks, and the Syrians as well. And then you’ve got the very practical reparations issue, and then the strategic value of Turkey. There’s a reason why no sitting president has used the word genocide, Obama did when was not in office but he didn’t do it when he was in office, right? But the Pope does it, and with the hundredth anniversary more world leaders have started to call it that.

You bring up an excellent point, though, with the location of Istanbul and that country.

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Image via Open Road Films

BALE: It’s a very strategically valuable country, yeah.

When you think back on the making of The Promise, is there a day or two that you’ll always remember? Like memorable moments from filming?

BALE: Yeah, I think actually, there’s a scene by the river, that’s very memorable for me because in educating myself about the genocide, it was incredibly barbaric. And in wishing to make a sweeping epic, Terry did not actually want to show that, and that confused me for quite a long time, I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to, but it’s the director’s film, any film is the director’s, so you have to try to understand their point of view and go with the way that they wish to make the film. And in trying to understand that, and very much his reasoning was that he wanted this to be used for educational resources and for young people to be able to watch it without it becoming overly shocking to be able to stomach, and the truth is stomach-churning. So therefore an awful lot of the time, there is reference to, or there’s a suggestion to what is happening off screen, but not so many occasions where you actually see the consequences, and so that day stuck with me a great deal. And also because of the involvement of people whose families were directly involved in it, and so that was a very poignant day for them.

Switching gears a little bit, you worked with Adam McKay on The Big Short, which is a film I truly love. I think Adam McKay is a genius, and what he was able to do with that material was incredible. When he approached you to work together again with this Dick Cheney thing, was this an immediate yes?

BALE: No, I thought he was batshit crazy, but often a genius is, isn't it? And I completely agree with you. He has an ability that I haven’t seen in another filmmaker to take a project that on the surface does not seem appropriate for a film whatsoever and make it one of the most compelling and entertaining films that I’ve seen in a long while, and that’s with The Big Short, so he’s one of the few people that I think can handle this other project. It’s in very early days, we’re very early days right now.

I was gonna say, do you envision that being something you’re going to film this year?

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Image via Open Road Films

BALE: I don’t know yet.

Then I’ll leave it there then, and say I hope you guys are working together again because your last collaboration was fantastic.

BALE: Thank you very much.

One of my favorite films of the last decade or two is The Prestige. I absolutely love that movie so much. If you don’t mind, when you think back on the making of that film, can you share any stories, is there anything you remember vividly from the making of that film?

BALE: Yes, learning absolutely no magic from it whatsoever. I had hard taskmasters as my tutors. Hugh had magicians who were quite happy to teach him some complete tricks and hold nothing back, whereas I had Ricky Jay and Michael Weber who are fantastic at what they do and absolute consummate magicians, who therefore wouldn’t reveal anything to me. They would show me the beginning, they would show me the end, or they would show me the middle, but they would never show me all three. [laughs] I came out of the whole thing having no clue how to perform any magic trick at all, but also able to do a very proficient card waterfall as they call it, which I had to do numerous times for numerous takes on stage in front of hundreds of people. One day when Ricky and Michael were unable to make it on a last minute call, I had another magician arrive and I showed him the waterfall and he was very impressed, and he took out his own pack of cards which just had a string attached to the back of it and he asked me why did I bother practicing that when all I had to do was get a pack that had a string in the middle? [laughs] That was what I found funny with the entire thing, was just how hard those bastards who I love dearly made me work that another magician would’ve given me a much easier time with, and I ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it at the end. But I liked very much the experience because it was also, Chris and I had only made Batman Begins, but also that is the only experience we’ve had together other than The Prestige, was myself playing that one character. And so it was a very different film and a different experience to make, and one which is much more comfortable for me where you have a quicker, tighter schedule, which is what I’m more accustomed to and comfortable with.

Yeah, that movie really stands the test of time. I’m also a really big fan of Scott Cooper, and you just worked with him again making a 19th Century period piece. What was it about that material that got you involved? Was it Scott, was it the script, was it both?

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Image via Relativity Media

BALE: It was both. I had a very good experience with Scott on Out of the Furnace, and after all, the only thing I can pursue is the process, the making of a film, the outcome is not in my hands at all, and so I enjoyed that experience a great deal with him. The script for Hostiles is excellent, and I wanted to chase that process again and it ended up being a very valuable one and I think it’s going to be an absolutely stunning film.

You’ve worked with a number of talented directors. I believe you’ve produced one thing. Is directing something that you are interested in doing down the road or do you think it’s out of your skillset? I guess I’m just curious if you’re interested in directing.

BALE: No, I don’t really love film enough to be a director. I like working on film, I’m interested in people, but I’m not -- I’ve managed to work for, I’ve had people point out in the last few days, thirty years in film without really knowing anything about film. What I mean by that is like, I can’t tell you anything about acting in general; I can tell you about each and every character I’ve ever played, but ask me anything beyond those characters and I’m just tumbleweeds. There are consummate actors, for instance, I consider Oscar Isaac to be that, some people who are trained, who understand their craft very well and who can apply it and who can probably be wonderful teachers and helpful to other people who are just starting out. I’m completely useless, I have no clue about what I do, how it’s done, it changes with each and every director that I work with. I’m an obsessive personality and I can obsess about one person, character, for an unhealthy length of time, so that leads to being able to be an actor in the way that I do it. But to be a film director, I don’t know, I think in my mind, you sort of have to love film and you kind of have to have been tuned in to the whole dialogue of film and the conversation is happening throughout the history of film and you’re continuing that conversation, and I’m just not tuned in in that way. Music has always been far more important in my life. I love making films and I love the process of it, but I don’t see that many of them, and far less now that I’m a dad as well.

When I put on Twitter that I was going to be talking to you, I always try to ask something that the fans want to know, and a lot of them asked basically about you doing another superhero movie. Would you be interested in working with Marvel? Is being involved in another superhero film something that you are looking to do? Because it does feel like the genre is only getting bigger when I thought it might be slowing down by now.

BALE: No, I’m not interested in doing that. I’ve never seen -- I’m trying to think if that’s correct, I think I’m actually correct, I can’t remember a single superhero film that I’ve ever watched. Apart from the ones I made and like, the Christopher Reeve Superman films.

I was just going to ask if you’ve seen the Christopher Reeve Superman movies by Richard Donner.

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Image via Open Road Films

BALE: Yes. Yes, I love those. Other than that, no I’ve never seen anything.

It’s interesting because the genre itself on TV and film seems to get bigger and bigger every year and you wonder when it might slow down, it’s just crazy how popular it is.

BALE: Right. Yes. I have no understanding of it and I’m completely blind to it.

I’m definitely curious, though, you’ve worked with Malick more than once and he recently said he’s going to be going back to more scripted fare after what he’s been doing the last four years. Is working with him again something you guys have discussed? What are your thoughts on him going back to actually working with a script?

BALE: [laughs] I think that’s likely to be his version of working with a script. You know, every director is very different, and remember, they don’t actually get to work alongside these fellows, so even though they think they might be similar, I’ve never come across any director that is similar to another one. You have to learn their rhythm, their camera style for every job that you take. So even Terry saying he wants to go back to scripted fare, which I haven’t heard, but even if he is saying that, that will be a very different outcome to the majority of directors saying they want to go back to scripted fair. But I love working with Terry, script or no script.

Yeah, he definitely recently said he’s going to go back to more scripted stuff, which to be honest, I’m very curious about. My last thing for you, because I’m running out of time, what are you thinking about doing in 2017 or even next year in terms of what projects are you looking at? Are there certain genres that you’ve never been apart of that you are interested in pursuing?

BALE: Um. No. [laughs] I used to think that about trying a big action film and I’ve done that now. My M.O. is I try to avoid it as much as possible, I’m always trying to get out of work. I’m trying to find excuses why it’s not right. I very often tell people that I would be the wrong casting, it shouldn’t be me, and I recommend other actors. That’s just the way I sort of operate.

It’s borderline Bill Murray.

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Image via Open Road Films

BALE: I tend to wait until there’s something where I just can’t find any reason how I can say no any longer and then it’s sort of a sense of guilt. I’m lying if I continue to say no. So that’s my approach, really. I sort of do a fingers crossed thing, because I don’t know what there is other than that, you know, I’ll still get employed. I’ve been doing this a while and I’ve got no friggin’ idea why, but it’s happening and I’m very fortunate for that. Um. You know. This has happened to me. So there you go.

It’s funny to hear you talk like this. I actually have one last question if you don’t mind, because it’s about motion capture. You worked with Andy Serkis on Jungle Book and got to play in his imaginarium. Was that your first time doing motion capture stuff?

BALE: Yes, yes, that’s right, yeah. I kept forgetting what it was called, I kept saying to Andy, “What’s this we’re doing?” “Motion capture, Chris.” “Right, motion capture.” I actually didn’t get to go to the actual physical site of his imaginarium; we actually shot out here in Los Angeles. But Andy is an incredibly talented man and a wonderful guy to spend time with, and with him obviously being so experienced at it, you can sort of be there and just do anything and he’s able to guide you instantaneously and tell you “well, that just isn’t going to work,” or “this is.” It was very enjoyable. I enjoyed that a great deal. I don’t entirely understand it but I don’t need to understand it. In essence, apart from having this bizarre contraption placed around your head, once you get past that, it’s the same as anything else, you know? Everything comes back to the skillset and just understanding what Andy’s looking for and what style he’s looking for. You just have to get used to this big thing stuck on your head and pretend it’s not there.

With the way you fight doing work and not wanting to do it, what was it about Jungle Book and that project that said “I want to be apart of it and this is important to me”?

BALE: Well, I’ve known Andy, we haven’t stayed in touch, but we first met when I was about nineteen years old in Denmark, and I like him a great deal. I’ve always liked the Jungle Book. I had no idea another Jungle Book was being made at the time. [laughs] It still doesn’t matter to me because Andy’s vision is very different, but it was Andy and trying this new thing, which the name I kept forgetting, called motion capture. It was in thinking, well, let’s see what that’s like.