Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley recently spoke about their experience starring in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film, The Bride, where Bale portrays Frankenstein’s monster and Buckley plays the Bride. Bale’s character is depicted as a lonely figure driven by guilt and remorse, embarking on a transformative journey alongside Buckley’s vibrant and complex character. The film explores themes of isolation, companionship, and the search for identity, with Bale and Buckley diving deep into their characters’ psychological and emotional struggles.
Christian Bale on Portraying Frankenstein’s Monster and His Inner Turmoil
Bale explained that his character, Frank, embodies sorrowful loneliness due to the terrible crimes he has committed and his troubled upbringing. Bale described Frank as
“a giant man child with the worst parent ever in history”
whose life has been dominated by guilt and despair. Frank’s despair pushes him to seek connection, even if it means taking a huge risk. Bale said,
“He can’t live like this any longer, you know, he’s gonna die of loneliness and he needs somebody. He needs some sort of a companion. And so, he takes that risk and he’d have been happy with a piece of bread or something that, you know, that would sit with him and maybe hold his hand occasionally and instead he gets this absolute insane…”
In an interjection, Buckley humorously added, “Croissant!”
Bale continued by characterizing Buckley’s role as the Bride:
“There you go, this buttery croissant… who’s just the most lively, livewire, authentic, sharp, brilliant person that he could ever imagine and he’s barely hanging on, on this roller coaster ride that the two of them go on.”
Their dynamic drives the story as the characters confront loneliness and chaos together.
Jessie Buckley’s Experience Playing Multiple Voices in Her Character
Buckley reflected on the challenge of embodying three distinct voices within her role in The Bride. She described the process as
“a trip to live with those different voices,”
essential for her character’s journey toward self-discovery. Buckley explained,
“I’m a bit of a magpie. Like, I just need to kind of open my eyes and whatever instinctively feels delicious be like, ‘Oh, that’s an interesting texture. That’s an interesting texture.’ And then put it into a big pot of soup and hope that in some way it’ll come out and be fun to play.”
She added,
“It was a trip to live with kind of these three voices inside me but that were essential for this character for the Bride to discover herself in her totality.”
Exploring the “Monster” Within Everyone According to Bale and Buckley
Bale and Buckley also shared their thoughts on the metaphorical “monster” residing inside every person. Bale expressed fascination with embracing life’s inherent chaos rather than presenting constant optimism. He said,
“I love all those thoughts anyway. I enjoy having all those thoughts… And I think it’s also essential, isn’t it? You know, because life becomes a total farce. It becomes a performance if all you’re doing is accepting the sort of order and the performative nature of being eternally optimistic and being a ‘good person’ which ultimately ends up with just being a bored person who’s not living life properly anyway instead of accepting that everyone’s got chaos to them and this sort of need for the, you know, Dionysus within them and so that’s what they embrace.”
Buckley agreed, noting that repression of this inner chaos leads to its inevitable eruption:
“Even if you try to repress the monster, it comes out like if you’re just living a mundane life, there’s just, like, little valves… that’s where monstrosity comes from.”
She further reflected on the original Frankenstein story, saying,
“In Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein,’ you know, he’s a beautiful creature that’s made from the broken bits of humanity that’s locked into an attic. And it’s his loneliness that creates his maliciousness. He says, ‘I’m malicious because I’m miserable.’”
Jessie Buckley’s Journey Before Fame and Career Advice to Young People
While Jessie Buckley has recently gained acclaim for her role in Hamnet, she revealed that her path to success was not without setbacks. Early in her career, she was rejected by two drama schools. Reflecting on this, she stated,
“I think they were absolutely right to turn me down, by the way… I wasn’t ready and I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I was young and I needed to go live life.”
Buckley advised younger artists to embrace life experiences outside of their craft, encouraging them to explore and learn through diverse experiences.
“For young people I would say, ‘You got to go do lots of things. You know go work in a market, go work in a pub, go travel, you know, sleep with loads of people, get drunk on a Friday night like do it all. That’s where you learn to be a human.’”
The Impact and Anticipation Surrounding The Bride
The Bride highlights themes of loneliness, identity, and the acceptance of inner chaos through the complex relationship between Christian Bale’s Frankenstein’s monster and Jessie Buckley’s Bride. Their intense portrayals bring depth to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s vision, offering audiences a profound exploration of human nature and emotional turmoil. As the film reaches wider audiences, it promises to spark conversations around the darker sides we all carry and the ways we seek connection despite our flaws.
With both Bale and Buckley known for their intense, transformative performances, The Bride is poised to be a significant entry in their careers, and it will be intriguing to see how viewers respond to the morally complex characters they bring to life.
