Bale, Christian (1974– )

British actor. He reached an international audience with his critically acclaimed role as a young boy interned in a Japanese prison camp in Steven Spielberg's World War II film Empire of the Sun (1987), but it was his role as the yuppie serial killer in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's psychological thriller American Psycho (2000) that established his status as a leading man.

He began appearing in television advertisements in 1983 and made his professional acting debut on London's West End stage, starring at the age of ten opposite English comedian Rowan Atkinson in the play The Nerd (1986). Avoiding the teen film genre, he made a smooth transition to a variety of adult roles in period films such as adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1994), Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999). Other films include the action thriller Shaft (2000), the off-beat comedy Laurel Canyon (2002), the thriller The Machinist (2004), Christopher Nolan's blockbuster adaptation Batman Begins (2005), and Terence Malick's historical drama The New World (2005).

Bale was born in Wales and grew up in England, Portugal, and the USA. He has been active in several animal rights and conservation organizations.