Christian Bale's portrayal of the murder-psychopath Patrick Bateman has become iconic. In American Psycho, Bateman's off-putting personality and over-the-top reactions in his head are disturbing and yet somewhat believable. Despite the exaggerated performance, Bale decided to model Bateman after a real person to give it some authenticity. Except it wasn't modeled off of a serial killer but Tom Cruise.
When Patrick Bateman isn't being serious or villanous, he often wears a big grin and speaks in a forcibly-happy manner. It almost feels like he's not human, but instead someone observing humans and figuring out how they should behave in situations. During an interview, American Psycho director Mary Harron spoke about how this was exactly the vibe she wanted for the character and that she and Bale spoke at length about how they wanted him to behave.
In the interview, Harron also recalled that one day Bale called her and said he had found inspiration from watching Tom Cruise during a David Letterman interview. Harron said Cruise "had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes" and that Bale was really taken back by his energy.
There are numerous Cruise interviews that can be found online that fit the description Bale gave. Cruise is often very intense and always comes across as incredibly happy due to his big, cheesy grin and exaggerated movements. Though it's hard to judge, some people see this as being forced, while others see it as being genuine. Either way, there's no denying a certain unnaturalness to his behavior, hence why Christian Bale thought it would be perfect for the character of Patrick Bateman.
Although Patrick Bateman is obviously a lot more aggressive than Cruise, there are hints of his personality in American Psycho. For example, when Bateman brings a drunk colleague home and is gearing up to murder him, his big grin and wide eyes are reminiscent of Cruise when talking about the music playing.
Despite the resemblance, it's safe to assume that the film wasn't purposefully targeting Cruise and relating him to a serial killer. Although some audiences dislike Tom Cruise due to his involvement in the Scientology movement, many who have worked with him insist he's one of the nicest people they've ever met.
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