LOS ANGELES — Christian Bale’s mother Jenny James revealed that she’s constantly caught off guard when he uses his natural Welsh accent in conversation, confirmed sources who couldn’t relate more.
“I just can’t believe he was faking it the entire movie. At this point, his Welsh accent feels like a put-on,” James confessed. “Sure, I’ve been his mother for decades, but you try watching ‘American Psycho’ and thinking he doesn’t speak in an American accent all the time and loves Huey Lewis and the News. Turns out, he’s had a British accent this whole time and asks me to turn off the radio when ‘Hip to Be Square’ comes on. Thanks to method acting, I don’t even know him.”
Bale began lamenting the frustration of losing his identity to the characters he plays.
“After ‘The Machinist’ my family started requesting I use an American accent with them because that’s ‘the Christian they know and love.’ They even thought I weighed 120 pounds naturally,” Bale explained while speaking in an American accent to make everyone feel more comfortable. “One would think this would be the ultimate compliment, but it’s quite an inconvenience. Fans will stop me in the street, but when they hear my voice they get all weird, there was one time when a woman even screamed like she was scared for her life. But the worst thing of all is when people confuse me with Jared Leto. It’s very embarrassing.”
While Bale is willing to humor them, his manager worries he may create some unexpected problems.
“There are people out there who believe English accents are fake, and they’ve had their eye on Christian for years now. You know, hoping he’ll ‘slip up,’” said Bale’s manager Rory Tulane. “If he gets caught speaking with an American accent to his own family, they’ll have a field day in the press. Christian is less concerned about the tabloids, and more worried about maintaining his true sense of self, whatever that is. I am trying to find more English films for him to showcase his natural accent- but it may be too late to warm the public up to it. Once people believe a celebrity is from Indiana, it’s difficult to change that perception.”
At press time, Bale’s own dog reportedly didn’t recognize him in his natural accent and was seen issuing commands as Patrick Bateman, which onlookers agreed just fits.