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Ranking Christian Bale's Best Villain Roles: ‘American Psycho’ and More 1 February 2025 at 07:35

Ranking Christian Bale's Best Villain Roles: ‘American Psycho’ and More

By: Mekhi Seabrook

1 February 2025 at 07:35

Christian Bale is not afraid of going to the dark side.

While Bale, 50, is certainly recognized for his role as the selfless superhero Batman, the Academy Award-winning actor is arguably best known for his role as ultimate bad boy Patrick Bateman. Bale’s villainous character in 2000’s American Psycho has become synonymous with corporate greed and toxic masculinity, all while wielding a chainsaw.

More than 20 years after Bale taught Us to background check our first dates, he stretched his villain muscle again in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder as Gorr the God Butcher. In a noir-style performance, Bale served as the antithesis of all things joyful and good — the ultimate bad guy of the multiverse.

“There’s a great pleasure in playing a villain,” Bale said of his Thor: Love and Thunder character during a 2022 press event. “It’s a lot easier to play a villain than it is to play a hero — Chris [Hemsworth] had a much tougher job. You know, everyone is fascinated with the bad guys, immediately.”

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Bale went on to say that a well-written bad guy can evoke both hatred and empathy, adding that when an actor successfully plays a villain “you sort of understand maybe why this guy is making awful decisions.”

“He is a monster and he is a butcher, but is possibly a little understanding of why he came to be that way,” he concluded.

From a polarizing political figure to an all-powerful demigod, here are Bale’s most iconic villain roles, ranked:

Jim Davis — ‘Harsh Times’ — The 2005 film tackled a slew of difficult topics, from the state of veteran’s affairs and support in this country to United States’ international policy and how it impacts communities in third-world countries. While Bale played protagonist Jim Davis, a troubled Army Ranger struggling to return to civilian life, he is arguably villainous in his actions — the only “language” Bale’s character understands is violence and he wields it with a vengeance.

Walter Wade Jr. — ‘Shaft’ — Bale took on the bad guy role of Walter Wade Jr., a sleazy, racist and rich New York City playboy who brutally murders Trey Howard (Mekhi Phifer) and sets off a chain of events that only highlight his depravity. Through his actions, Bale’s character embodies racist real estate policies, upper-class snobbery, and shameless elitism. By the end of the film, viewers love to hate Bale’s Walter Wade.

Melvin Purvis — ‘Public Enemies’ — While Bale technically played a protagonist, his portrayal of FBI agent Melvin Purvis navigating J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau leans more bad than good. Because Bale’s character is relentless in his pursuit of so-called “justice,” he ends up blurring the lines between “right” and “wrong” until there’s very little difference between him and the criminals he is hunting.

Gorr the God Butcher — ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ — At a time when the MCU universe had what many considered to be a “villain problem,” Bale delivered a masterclass in bad guy acting via his portrayal of Gorr the God Butcher. Despite being one of Marvel’s most notable and powerful supervillains — and Thor’s greatest adversary — viewers found themselves feeling sorry for Bale’s Gorr, who vowed to kill all the Gods after they refused to intervene and save his mother, wife and child.

Dick Cheney — ‘Vice’ — While accepting the 2019 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Bale thanked Satan — yes, like, the Devil himself – for giving him the inspiration he needed to play former Vice President Dick Cheney.
“Thank you Satan for giving me inspiration on how to play this role,” Bale said after accepting the award. “I’ll be cornering the market on charisma-free a–—. What do you think, Mitch McConnell next?”
In the film, Bale portrayed Cheney as a power-hungry politician who will stop at nothing to amass as much influence over the federal government and foreign policy as possible, especially post-9/11. In 2019, Cheney told an audience member during a speaking engagement at Beloit College that he had never seen the movie, but that his granddaughter believed it portrayed him as a “real badass.”

Patrick Bateman — ‘American Psycho’ — More than 20 years after 2000’s American Psycho hit theaters, Bale’s Bateman is still one of the first characters to come to mind when movie-lovers think of serial killers. The investment banker living a secret life as a murderer wasn’t just a hateable character for his murderous rampages – his materialistic, self-indulgent personality gave viewers even more of a reason to both despise him and become (for better or worse) infatuated with him. Now a cult classic in every sense of the word, Bale’s portrayal solidified him as an actor who can do it all.

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Mariska Hargitay Proves She's the Real-Life Version of SVU's Olivia Benson 16 January 2025 at 09:59

Mariska Hargitay Proves She's the Real-Life Version of SVU's Olivia Benson

Us Weekly News

By: Mekhi Seabrook

16 January 2025 at 09:59

Every Time Mariska Hargitay Proved Shes the Real Life Olivia Benson — Mariska Hargitay Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Mariska Hargitay has been playing the role of Olivia Benson on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999, and the character has bled into her real life over the years.

“It’s deeply in me,” Hargitay said about her character during a 2017 interview with E! News. “I was just saying the other day, I don’t know any more where Mariska ends and Olivia starts. They’re just becoming so enmeshed and entwined, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Fans of the show have watched Olivia rise through the ranks from detective to captain of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. In real life, the actress has taken on a role as an advocate for survivors of sexual violence. In January 2024, Hargitay wrote an a powerful essay revealing that she is also survivor after being raped by a friend in her 30s.

“This is a painful part of my story. The experience was horrible,” she wrote at the time. “But it doesn’t come close to defining me, in the same way that no other single part of my story defines me. No single part of anyone’s story defines them.”

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Keep scrolling to see Hargitay taking on the role of Benson in real life:

Founding Joyful Heart

Hargitay founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004 to raise awareness for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. The actress referred to the charity as “a response” to survivors when speaking at the Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s 18th Annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar in November 2024.

Being There for a Lost Child

In April 2024, Hargitay was filming SVU at the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park in New York City when a little girl, who appeared to be alone, ran up to the actress. The situation halted production on the show, according to various reports at the time, but Hargitay assisted in helping find the child’s mother.

Assisting Real-Life Sexual Assault Cases

Prosecutor Kym Worthy discovered more than 11,000 untested rape kits in a police department’s evidence room, and Hargitay funded her mission to continue investigations. This was revealed in an August 2024 episode of the “Dateline True Crime Weekly” podcast.

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“[Mariska] helped them raise the money to get this done, and it’s having a ripple effect across the country,” podcast host Andrea Canning shared at the time. “It’s making changes everywhere, from police departments to prosecutors’ offices.”

Helping Pedestrians During an Interview

In November 2024, Hargitay proved that her onscreen police training can come in handy for real-life situations. She was being interviewed by NBC’s Willie Geist NYC, according to a Page Six report at the time, when the duo assisted two disabled pedestrians in crossing the street.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).