Actors must be something akin to a chameleon, you might have heard it said. One minute a dashing action hero hurling themselves with reckless abandon from exploding buildings, the next a surly, grotesque antagonist, pacing around with murderous intent, it is well documented the lengths to which actors will go to reinvent themselves. Of course, though, this is a certain kind of actor, the one who can change themselves so remarkably that one is left wondering if they are, in fact, the same person. Others rely on power of personality, physical presence and more subtle nuance to earn their bread, and are no less talented for doing so. One man who has gone through more transformations than most over the course of his long and storied career is Christian Bale. Famed for his brooding intensity on screen, Bale has taken on a myriad of contrasting roles down the years, from his hulking, action hero turn as Batman to the dramatic weight shedding that took place ahead of his performance in The Machinist, Bale has been, at times, utterly incongruous from one film to the next. Though in renowned movie The Prestige, Bale's character's trick comes in the form of similarity (spoiler alert), in reality it is the actor's chameleon-like tendencies that set him apart from the crowd, and he appears to have pulled off something of a magic trick once more ahead of yet another new film role. Once again, Bale has transformed himself into someone completely unrecognisable from what we might consider his typical appearance - though at this point, quite what that is anybody's guess - for his upcoming role in Backseat, a movie in which he will portray the former Vice President Dick Cheney. Sporting a shaved head and looking a little stockier than fans of Batman will remember him being, Bale appeared a press conference in the Four Seasons Hotel while promoting a separate project, Hostiles, which is anticipated for release towards the end of the year. It is reported that bale is currently in filming for Backseat, a movie which will chronicle Dick Cheney's life, which is all set to star Crazy Stupid Love's Steve Carrell and American Hustle's Amy Adams, with whom Bale has co-starred on several occasions. When asked how he was putting on the weight for his role as Cheney, Bale replied in typically earthy fashion remarking that "I've just been eating a lot of pies." Dick Cheney served as George Bush's Vice President between 2001 and 2009 and is thought to have wielded considerable foreign policy influence during that time period; indeed, many consider Cheney as arguably the most powerful Vice President in American political history. Has there ever been an actor who has altered their physical appearance as much as Christian Bale has down the years in his various acting pursuits? If there is, it'll be a close run thing.

Christian Bale has transformed himself into dozens of characters over the years: a serial killer, a boy-next-door, a superhero, and most recently, a US Vice President.

But, have you ever wondered what the man behind the mask is really like?

Thousands of fans were left shaken on Sunday night when Bale stepped up to the stage to accept a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Dick Cheney in Vice, a moment that called attention to his real voice away from the acting world.

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While many of his followers are used to his drawling American speech patterns or the distinctively low vocal register he used to play Batman, truth be told, Bale is from the UK - something that certainly showed when he took to the stage, catching many viewers off-guard.

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Although he was born in Haverfordwest, Wales, the 44-year-old spent a lot of his youth in Surrey and Dorset, England, and has previously claimed that he counts himself as English, stating in one interview: "I was born in Wales but I'm not Welsh – I'm English."

Shocked social media users took to Twitter during the performance to express their amazement at this "revelation", with several claiming they had no idea the American Psycho star was British.

"Christian Bale’s Batman voice is permanently stuck in my brain... Had no idea he was British. Totally threw me for a loop," wrote Twitter user @asgxdangel. She was joined by @ihatejoelkim who confessed she thought the actor was doing the accent as a joke, stating: "I thought Christian Bale was doing a british accent to be funny and boy was it making me mad!!"

Another user going by the name of @hellolanemoore made an amusing comparison, writing "I constantly forget that Christian Bale’s real accent sounds like a cartoon chimney sweep", while @HESherman was about the only person out there who knew beforehand, saying: "Apparently I’m the only person on the internet who already knew Christian Bale is British and saw EMPIRE OF THE SUN in theatres."

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So, let it be known everyone: Christian Bale has an English accent.

Or does he...?

Twitter user @dazedbyrach was on to a conspiracy theory when she insisted that no one really knows what Bale's true voice sounds like because he changes it so often.

"Christian Bale is Welsh and one of my favorite long standing jokes is that his accent changes in every public appearance so no one truly knows what his voice sounds like," she wrote. "Go compare an interview from Newsies to his speech tonight, it’s not the same accent in the slightest."

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Could it be true? Is the actor fooling us all? Decide for yourself by looking through these old interviews.

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You can't deny it: Christian Bale's voice changes a lot - but, hey, give the man a break: he's an acting chameleon!

We all have our regrets. It may be a drunken one-night-stand, saying something mean in the heat of the moment, or making an embarrassing spectacle of yourself. But most of the time, these bad decisions are only known by a select few people. When you're a celebrity, everything you say and do is there for everyone to see.

So if an actor hates one of their roles, then talks trashes it in an interview, the story becomes about how much they hate the character or the movie. But, like many do with their exes, these actors returned to the characters they once publicly criticized...

1. Daniel Craig - James Bond

Back in 2015, Craig was asked whether he would star in another James Bond movie, telling Time Out:

"Now? I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not t all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on."

Regardless, he confirmed he'd be back for the next one in 2017, explaining that he regretted saying he wouldn't. "There is no point in making excuses about it, but it was two days after I finished shooting the last movie," he told Stephen Colbert. "Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer."

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2. Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool

Speaking to EW about his appearance as Deadpool in X-Men: Origins, he explained how he was told he had the choice to play the 'wrong version' of the character or let someone else do it:

"So we were in the middle of production, there were no writers, no anything. Every line I have in the movie I just wrote myself because in the script we had, it said, 'Wade Wilson shows up, talks really fast'. I was like, 'What?! What am I supposed to do with that?'"

Despite the the disastrous results, Reynolds dedicated himself to bringing a proper Deadpool movie to the big screen, which finally came out in 2016.

3. Harrison Ford - Rick Deckard

The famously grumpy actor wasn't a fan of Blade Runner, telling SFGate that he "didn't like the movie one way or the other" after its release. "I played a detective who did not have any detecting to do," he said. "In terms of how I related to the material, I found it very difficult."

However, he came back for the sequel Blade Runner 2049 last year, saying it was "interesting to develop a character after a period of time - to revisit a character."

4. Robert Pattinson - Edward Cullen

The actor has been pretty open about how much he disliked the series and his character over the years. "The more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that's how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself," he said in 2008. "Plus, he's a 108-year-old virgin so he's obviously got some issues there."

However, he had already signed on for the whole series, so was contractually obliged to return to the character he hated four more times after this.

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5. Harrison Ford (again) - Han Solo

Ford was completely done with the character when Return of the Jedi came around, or so we thought. "Three is enough for me," he said once. "I was glad to see that costume for the last time."

He also apparently pushed for them to kill him off in the original trilogy, though that didn't come to pass in those movies. However, as we all know, he returned to the fold in Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in 2015, where his wish came true.

While it's definitely not always the case, it seems like a lot of these actors ended up doing something interesting with their characters in the later movies. Well, maybe not Robert Pattinson, but it looked like he gave up on that series pretty early on.

Leonardo DiCaprio has moved to clarify some comments he made about starring in Titanic being a big regret for him because it meant that he couldn’t star in Boogie Nights.

Of course, Titanic went on to be one of the biggest films of all time and catapulted him to superstardom, but still he rues what could have been.

Leonardo DiCaprio outlined his ‘regret’ at not being in Boogie Nights

The 51-year-old A-lister made his comments during an interview with Esquire, in which he was specifically asked about his ‘greatest regret’.

Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell us all about an embarrassing incident from his love life, or a time he could have done something at school but didn’t, was he?

Instead, he picked something else - he said his 'biggest regret' career-wise was opting to take another role over one that he later came to love when someone else played the character.

The film in question is Boogie Nights.

It was made by Paul Thomas Anderson, who would later go on to great things with films like Magnolia, There Will Be Blood - although another director has a bone to pick with that film - and Leo’s latest One Battle After Another.

So, he decided to shine a bit of light on his recent director and a film that he loved.

Titanic, of course, went on to pick up 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, so it wasn’t a bad choice, all things considered.

Titanic was the highest-grossing movie ever for 12 years. Credit: Bob Riha Jr/Getty

Leo clarified his Titanic comments

Clearing up the confusion, Leo told Deadline: "Well, I think that was my answer to a question in the guise of speaking to [Paul Thomas Anderson], and, without getting too personal about my own life, the question was, 'What do you regret most?'

“We were sitting here talking about movies.

“It came from the standpoint of just being a fan of his work for so long.”

In the end, they would work together, but the Boogie Nights role went to Mark Wahlberg, who performed admirably.

Leo continued: "I do remember watching that movie and it being just a lightning rod moment for my generation. It was like the arrival of a new cinematic titan, one who was speaking to my generation.

"Now, I don’t think anyone could have done a better job than Mark Wahlberg in that movie, so I said it from the perspective of being just a really sincere fan and then watching the way Paul has progressed as a storyteller with these very esoteric, existential films he’s made since then that keep you thinking.

"Boogie Nights was the launching pad for a new artist. So, it’s less about that specific film and more about wanting to have worked with Paul.”

Clarifying his final decision to star in Titanic over Boogie Nights, Leo said: "No regrets. I mean, fully now in retrospect, I look back at that film and realize the thanks and the appreciation that I have for being a part of it, and to have been able to be in this incredibly fortunate position and not only to have been a part of that movie, but to be able to be the conductor of my own choices since.

“That has been just the greatest gift."

Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti, Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor and Sean Penn at the One Battle After Another premiere. Credit: Joe Maher/Getty

"The dilemma for me at that point, was, of course, I would’ve loved to have done both movies, but it just couldn’t happen at that moment.

“And then, here we are, all these years later and it’s this great sort of reconnection.

“We’ve gone on these paths together, and then to come back around and be able to collaborate with Paul on this is just amazing.”

"But yeah, I mean that moment, I don’t know what my ability or my career would’ve been without that film making it possible to be able to steer the course of my own career.

“So, I’m very thankful." 

Featured image credit: Jesse Grant/Getty

There's no doubt that Christian Bale is a chameleonic actor. Whether he's playing obsessed stage magicians, psychopathic yuppies, or corrupt politicians, he always brings his A-game. Yet most people know him for donning the iconic cowl of the Caped Crusader, playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

But now it seems as though Bale is going to appear as the villain in the new Thor movie. At least, that's what actress Tessa Thompson claims.

Take a look at this interview with Christian Bale below: 

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Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Thompson (who portrays the Asgardian character of Valkyrie in the Marvel movies) seemed to confirm that Bale will be playing an as-yet-unconfirmed villain in the upcoming fourth Thor movie, entitled Thor: Love and Thunder.

Speaking to ET's ET's Leanne Aguilera at the season 3 premiere of Westworld, Thompson stated: "Christian Bale is going to play our villain, which is going to be fantastic. I've read the script. I can't tell you much. Lots of exciting text messages exchanged between Natalie and I. We're going to have fun. Taika is writing [and] directing. Some familiar faces. Some new people coming into the mix."

Meanwhile, it seems as though Bale is only too happy to leave Batman in the hands of other actors. He even had some advice for Robert Pattinson, who is due to portray the character in the upcoming reboot.

Check out the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok in the video below: 

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In an interview with Extra TV he stated: "Everybody protested when Heath was cast as the Joker. Look what an absolutely brilliant performance he gave. Don't listen to those guys, do his own thing. He's a fascinating actor and a great choice."

The movie, which also stars Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, and Natalie Portman, is due to be directed by Jojo Rabbit and What We Do in the Shadows director Taika Waititi, and is currently slated for release on November 5, 2021.