“Sit, Harrison! Christian won’t be long.”
“I think I’ll take a stroll outside, David.” I headed to the backyard and started to walk around the pool. A curious Mojo followed me.
I walked around the pool fifteen times, trying to process everything I had seen this strange and wonderful evening, until I heard Christian come down the stairs again. He was wearing tattered blue dress socks and a blue terrycloth bathrobe that was shockingly short. If he had sat down or bent over, his modesty would have been lost completely. Christian stomped over to the dryer and pulled out a clean T-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs. He then made his way back upstairs.
I made my way back to the kitchen table while Mojo ran over to the foot of the stairs, waiting for his young master. David smiled.
Christian came back down, now showered and fully dressed in clean clothes. He automatically turned to the kitchen counter where David had a steaming mug of tea waiting for him. Mojo was just at his heels. I was impressed. Clearly David anticipated his son’s every need.
The three of us sat around the kitchen table. While David began extolling the benefits of the marketing proposal, Christian was flipping through the pages, looking at each page intently. He read slowly and purposely.
“Christian,” David was saying, “you have no idea how revolutionary this is! To use the Internet for publicity is brilliant! Your fans could visit a Web site or message board and always know when your movies are coming out or when your videos are to be released. Tell him, Harrison! Tell him how this works.”
I cleared my throat. “Well, you see, there are different places on the Internet where movie buffs can post questions. On AOL. On CompuServe. Or in a newsgroup. Thousands of people ask questions like: ‘Where are they now?’ or, ‘Can you help me ID an actor?’ That sort of thing.”
“Astonishing,” David muttered.
“With you, Christian,” I suddenly felt awkward as that was the first time I was addressing him by name, “with you and your movies, we often see people posting questions like: ‘Whatever happened to the boy from Empire of the Sun?’ We reply and tell them your name and let them know that your current movies can be rented at the video store. So, you see, we expand your word-of-mouth that way.
“Someone else will post: ‘That guy from Newsies? Wow, I can’t believe it’s the same kid from Empire of the Sun!’ And that gets people curious, so you now have people renting your other titles. They connect the dots and see that you’re one and the same person. And that works for Swing Kids, too. People who’ve seen Swing Kids may not know about Newsies or Empire. People who’ve seen Newsies may not know about Swing Kids.”
“Brilliant!” David muttered again. “Absolutely brilliant!”
“And that’s just in the Actors’ folders,” I continued. “I can hunt down Spielberg fans and remind them of Empire and let them know what you’re doing now. You know that ‘girl in red’ scene in Schindler’s List?”
Christian nodded slowly, looking almost like he was unwilling to concede a point.
“Well, it fascinates a lot of people. So I post in the Spielberg folders that he used that technique first in Empire—with your little red school jacket lost in the crowds of Shanghai. I post in the War Movies folders and remind them of Empire and Swing Kids and I post in the Swing Music folders about Swing Kids. That’s called cross-pollination.”
“Absolutely right!” David muttered yet again, urging me on. “Brilliant!”
I continued: “And it can be used for editorial purposes as well. Fans can write ‘letters to the editor.’ That impresses a magazine because they always want to know what article generates the most feedback. It helps them gauge what’s hot. And reporters can come to the site and read interviews, download your biography, press notes, pictures—lots of stuff.”
Christian’s nostrils flared, and I wasn’t sure if he was impressed or angry. He continued to flip through the pages of the proposal. He was starting to look bored. Suddenly, he jumped up and started pacing around the table, speaking without actually looking at anyone as he thought out each phrase.
“Harrison? Look, I can’t stand publicity. I’ve hated it since I was a child, I’m sure Dad has told you. If we do this Internet thing, I won’t have to do anything?”
“No, it’s very low effort.” I took a deep breath to continue my pitch. “Consider your Web site as your own television network, movie theater, or radio station. Your site tells your audience what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and what you will be working on. Your fans around the world will know what to anticipate—on video, onstage, or in the theaters. Your Web site becomes the Mecca for your fans and helps you tap into an audience that looks forward to your next films. If you do a magazine interview, reprinting or linking it on your Web site multiplies the number of readers. It lets fans know when and where to find articles.
“And most importantly, consider your official Web site to be a ‘virtual documentary’ of your career. All we’d need is a supply of pictures to post on the site and to be kept up to date with what’s happening with your movies. You know, release dates, magazine interviews, things like that. It’s a way of getting your fans, your audience, to know what’s happening with you, that’s all.”
“How much will this cost?” Christian asked.
“There are start-up costs,” I began. “The Web site will need to be hosted . . .”
David jumped in: “No worries, Christian. I’ll iron out those details with Harrison.”
“Sure,” I continued. “We could run contests for stuff. If your agent or publicist could keep me on a mailing list . . .”
David snorted derisively. “No chance of that. Agents don’t know anything about the Internet. Don’t worry, Harrison. I’ll mail or fax you what you need. And Christian doesn’t have a publicist.”
“No,” Christian cut in. “I don’t have one. I don’t need one. I can’t afford one.”
“So what should I do with any press inquiries to the Web site?”
“Send them to my dad for now. You can tell them you are my assistant and acting on my behalf but my dad will answer the questions.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Well, that’s it, really? It looks good. Any details, talk to my dad. He takes care of those things for me. Oh, by the way, your proposal says that this will be my official site? I don’t want to sound arrogant or self-serving, so can we make this about the fans?”
“Sure,” I agreed. “It’s your official site, and it will be the home of the fan club. What do you think of CCBALE? Cinemaphiles for Christian Bale Appreciation, Laud, and Encouragement?”
Christian finally cracked a smile. “No way. Absolutely not. Forget that. Let’s just call it the Christian Bale Fan Club.” He glanced again at the kitchen clock and marched over to shake my hand. “Nice meeting you, Harrison. We’ll see you tomorrow at the premiere, right?” And then he was gone, with Mojo scampering after him.
A delighted David Bale looked at me.
“I think Christian likes you!”
“Really? You can tell from just that?”
“Absolutely. I know my own son. He likes you and respects you because he was impressed with the marketing plan.”
“He just flipped through it.”
“He loved it! Trust me.”
“I don’t know.” I looked down at the binder, slightly stunned at how the evening had progressed. I wondered if David had already prepped Christian about the proposal. I wondered if they were being nice or if they had recognized an urgent need for my help.
David looked furtively back at the kitchen door. He then leaned toward me and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper.
“I need to take you into my confidence. Can I trust you?”
I nodded.
“I feel I can trust you. It is in your honorable Chinese nature.” I managed not to flinch at David’s overt racism.
“Christian is a young man but in many ways he is still a child.” He took a long shuddering breath. “When
his mother abandoned us, I had to take over the roles of both mother and father. Unfortunately, I can’t cook. I can’t! I’m just a useless old man, to be honest. A useless old man!” He wiped away a tear. “Because of the abandonment, Christian may not seem very warm or cordial. He was emotionally damaged by his mother’s betrayal. He has few friends. How can he possibly trust anyone after his own mother leaves him? How, I ask you, how?”
David’s open emotions disarmed me—I had never met such an expressive person before. I was speechless. It was the first, but would not be the last time I heard David bad-mouth Christian’s mother.
“So please don’t misunderstand his reticence. He likes you. I can tell. I know you and Christian will get along. Christian likes quiet people.”
“And what makes you think I’m a quiet person, David?”
David laughed. “But aren’t all Chinese quiet people?” He laughed again at my pained reaction to his stereotyping.
“You shall be a wonderful addition to our family, Harrison. This is a family business and it can’t possibly succeed unless we’re a united family.”
I was shocked by the suddenness of David’s offer, but thrilled. Was I really adopting a family? My own family was cautious, full of tales of worry. David Bale was like the dream dad—expressive, encouraging, optimistic. This was heady stuff. I’d gone from just another letter-writing fan to sitting at the kitchen table in Christian Bale’s house. But this was it! Officially sanctioned and endorsed, I excitedly thought to the days and weeks ahead to when I’d begin building the first official actor’s Web site. A framed movie poster was propped up against the kitchen wall—Newsies! The poster featured a painting of Christian dancing on top of a pile of newspapers, looking like Fievel the Mouse. However, the movie’s tagline, “A Thousand Voices, A Single Dream,” concisely conveyed what I wanted to make Christian’s Web site into.
When I returned to Toronto four days later, a package was waiting for me from David. I put aside the box and opened up the letter first.
Dear Harrison,
You are using your skills and training in marketing to do for Christian and his career what normally only a major star would get at great expense from an agency, management team, and studios.
Importantly, you are doing this within the restraints and wishes requested by Christian. Even more importantly, you are honest and honorable about all this—giving a security and trust to Christian that hardly any actor has ever obtained from agency/marketing representation. It is actually not possible to thank you fully, nor appropriate, for by behaving with integrity and upholding Christian’s particular and personal wishes, you are being a friend.
It is an obvious fact that an actor has life as such for two reasons: one, that he is good; and two, that people make the decision to go and pay to see him. The first without the second does not work; however the second without the first does! The actor’s satisfaction lies in the first, and relies upon the second in order to have life as an actor.
The industry absolutely recognizes that an actor’s abilities lie in the number and strength of his fans. Putting Christian on the Internet is a stroke of genius. Your knowledge and expertise in creating a Web page enables Christian to gain and increase recognition on an international basis. The studios all concur that only films with an international appeal can succeed now and in the future.
One does not encounter this kind of unconditional generosity and friendship hardly at all in life. You have me somewhat astonished. Please do understand that for Christian, it is many times more astonishing and personal, compound that with his almost total dislike of publicity due to the extreme pressures put on him at a very young and impressionable age, and it becomes overwhelming.
David Bale
Inside the box was a bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey! What a strange gift, I thought, since I had told him that I wasn’t a drinker. On the other hand, David had made a fuss about my Scottish birthplace. It was thoughtful and odd. It was, as I’d soon learn, very David Bale.
I was hooked. I was gobsmacked. This was more than what any fan could hope for.
This was going to be fun.
David and Christian in Palm Springs during the film festival premiere of Metroland.
[7]
Little Women, Big Dreams
“Little Women was definitely a turning point. And not just in career terms. I knew I was doing something new here, something I liked.”
—Christian Bale, Movieline
Aside from the launch of the Baleheads in cyberspace, Christian’s biggest fan on the West Coast was undoubtedly Winona Ryder, who had swooned over his performance in Newsies.
In the 1990s, Winona Ryder was a powerful, savvy young actress on her way up. Winona was also a former child actor, making her big-screen debut at the age of fifteen in Lucas (1986) with Charlie Sheen and the late teen idol Corey Haim. She connected with her generation as the goth girl in Tim Burton’s second feature film, Beetlejuice (1988), and then skillfully navigated the “one for the studio, one for yourself” Hollywood maxim as she chose mainstream and indie projects that were both prestigious and challenging. The petite actress preferred to work with talented and experienced directors. Her careful career building in the 1990s yielded fruit. Ryder earned two Oscar nominations—one for Little Women (1994), one for The Age of Innocence (1993). She won a Golden Globe for The Age of Innocence. All this before she was thirty years old!
Aside from her work, Ryder was also known for her active social life. She had been engaged to Johnny Depp (her Edward Scissorhands costar) and had dated a number of actors, including Christian Slater, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Duchovny, Chris Noth, and Matt Damon. She also dated musicians, including David Pirner of Soul Asylum as well as Beck. In 1997, People named her one of their 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Winona Ryder had been friends with producer Denise Di Novi ever since they had met on Heathers. When Ryder decided she wanted to remake the classic Little Women, she also knew she wanted to work with Di Novi again.
Written in 1868 by American author Louisa May Alcott, Little Women is a classic and treasured book for young girls, even today. The book follows the story of Jo March, a headstrong tomboy and her three sisters, Meg, Beth, and Amy, as they grow up and find their ways in the world. Two pivotal male characters are the March sisters’ next-door neighbor, the shy rich boy Laurie (short for Theodore) and Professor Bhaer, an older German immigrant.
As a beloved story, Little Women was going to be a prestige project and Winona Ryder had lined up a formidable cast of female leads. Susan Sarandon would play Marmie, the March matriarch. Trini Alvarado would play the eldest sister, Meg. Claire Danes would be the sickly Beth. Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis would be the spoiled kid sister, Amy, at two different ages. Ryder herself would star as Jo March. Acclaimed Australian director Gillian Armstrong would direct.
So who would play the male roles?
For a while, Columbia Pictures, the studio behind this latest incarnation of Little Women, pushed hard for Hugh Grant to be Professor Bhaer, but Ryder instead chose Irish actor Gabriel Byrne (Christian’s costar from Prince of Jutland).
And for Laurie, the boy next door? Well, obviously, Columbia and Di Novi thought Laurie should be played by a young Hollywood heartthrob, especially in light of River Phoenix’s tragic death.
River Phoenix had defined the young Hollywood archetype of the 1980s and ‘90s. He was at ease with both big-studio and indie films, ever since he gained notice in Stand by Me. He had been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Running on Empty. He had starred with Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. His 1991 My Own Private Idaho with Keanu Reeves would sweep the Independent Spirit Awards. He had a very positive image as an environmentalist and a vegetarian. But his drug-induced death in 1993 became another cautionary tale about Hollywood, and it left a huge void as roles that would have been offered to Phoenix were now chasing after younger and untried new talent.
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Columbia and Di Novi thought of tapping an up-and-coming actor like Stephen Dorff for the role of Laurie, but Winona decided to bring in her latest discovery to read for the part.
Recalled Christian: “It was [Ryder’s] idea to bring me in to audition for Little Women. Winona was very involved in the casting, in every aspect of the film—she’d contacted Gillian about making the film. She wanted me to play Laurie. Talk about someone who’s seen a lot of movies—she’d seen everything I’d done.”
Ryder’s Little Women was not immediately ideal. David was grooming Christian to be a leading man, and a supporting role in a large ensemble concerned him. He didn’t want Christian to be lost in the crowd in a girl’s movie.
The funny thing about Christian was that because of his nomadic upbringing in England, he had no idea who Winona Ryder was. Nor had he ever heard of the book or previous film incarnations of Little Women.
In a Movieline interview, Christian was amused when he was scolded by director Gillian Armstrong: “She said: ‘Christian, maybe it’s a good idea to sort of research who you’ll be working with.’”
What did Christian think about taking on the role of Laurie, which had been made famous by Peter Lawford—brother-in-law to John F. Kennedy Jr., uncle of Maria Shriver, and one of the original Rat Pack with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis Jr.?
“I wasn’t intimidated due to the fact that I had never heard of it. I went to an all-boys school since I was twelve. Little Women was not on the curriculum.” Christian added, “I rented the June Allyson version but had to turn it off when I started gagging.”
Christian loved the Little Women script by Robin Swicord (who would receive a 2009 Oscar nomination for her screenplay The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), but David did not want Christian to take a supporting role and make a supporting actor’s measly salary. Fortunately, at the time, Christian’s new William Morris agent insisted that this Winona Ryder project would be a great career builder.
Christian Bale Page 10
