Interesting Facts About American Psycho.
Behind-the-scenes details that went into the controversial yet cult classic film.
American Psycho is a 90s film based on the book of the same title. The film was seen as controversial during its release partly due to its violent scenes. However, the film ended up becoming a cult classic. There is a lot of fandom following the film including memes, Youtube shorts, and Facebook groups. The lead actor, Christian Bale, continued to thrive in Hollywood as he went on to win an Academy Award for a later performance. The film also included supporting roles from future stars such as Reese Witherspoon, Justin Theroux, and Josh Lucas.
The story centers on Patrick Bateman, a stockbroker on Wall Street in the 80s. This period was the beginning of corporate raiders and yuppie culture in America. The story follows various corporate tycoons in their daily lives. Their days are filled with shallow conversations, obsessions over material items, cocaine use, and getting into the best restaurants. Patrick wants to fit into this mold but he also desires to stand out. His way of standing out is by brutally killing anyone he feels like. Whether out of boredom or jealousy, he kills exactly who he wants with no regard for his victims.
Below are some interesting facts that went into the making of this cryptic masterpiece.
Patrick Bateman is Tom Cruise! (Kind of).
Christian Bale once stated during an interview that his inspiration for playing Bateman was Tom Cruise. He stated how he mimicked the way Cruise appears friendly but yet there's nothing behind his eyes. In some scenes, he’s even wearing similar clothing and styles that Cruise has been seen in.
Other Patrick Bateman Options.
Leonardo Dicaprio was an original choice to play Bateman, but he wanted to change the character's narrative. He wanted to make him more human and find a way to explain his rage. The makers of the film had disagreements about changing Bateman. Also, Ewan Mcgregor was going to sign on as Bateman. However, Christian Bale pleaded with Ewan to not take the role as he desperately wanted it.
Bale’s Teeth.
For the role, Christian wanted to look as perfect as possible, as Patrick is always concerned with his looks. He is portrayed to be very vain and obsessed with the material world. Christian decided to change his teeth permanently for the role. He had his teeth capped before filming. He mentioned that though he liked his old teeth, he felt this was best for the role.
Whitney Houston.
In one of Patrick's monologues, he discusses how much he loves music. He specifically talks about Whitney Houston's rendition of The Greatest Love of All. However, given the dark nature of the film, Whitney refused to allow her song to be a part of it. The film used an instrumental version of the song instead.
Directors fought for Bale.
Not only did Christian have to campaign for himself to get the role, but so did the makers of the film. Once the directors decided that they wanted him, they had to convince the studio to accept him. He was a relatively unknown actor at the time, and production was concerned about taking a gamble.
Willem Dafoe.
Dafoe played a private detective hired to investigate the disappearance of Paul Allen. He interviews Bateman several times as a suspect. Dafoe was told during filming to play the character three different ways in each scene. First, the detective is objective about whether or not Bateman is guilty. Secondly, he thinks Bateman is guilty. Third, he thinks Bateman is possibly guilty. So in each scene, Patrick never knows whether the detective believes he killed Paul.
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