Christian Bale - the most dynamic actor of his generation (ABCNews) - has given us some groundbreaking performances in film that has taken, us - the audience - through amazing journeys and made us feel every feeling possible from watching a movie.
His latest performance, in "The Dark Knight Rises", was incredible - he deserves nominations and awards for that (again, that's my opinion). He showed us that a person who faces his fears rather than running from it can find unbelievable strength - he made us believe that our fears can make us stronger. He also made us believe that with dedication, determination, will, and hard work anything is possible. We would not have been able to go on this awesome journey without the performance of Christian Bale holding it all together.
Of course - with Christian Bale finishing off Chris Nolan's Batman saga with one of the biggest movies of this year - means there are going to be people poping up who have been a part of his life in one way or another and are going to write who they think Christian Bale is and a version of his life. Considering Christian Bale is a very private person it creates even more intrigue and fascination around him. Perfect opportunity for a disgruntled ex-employee to come in (who did not sign a Non-Disclousre Agreement - which is pretty standard in the industry) to write a version of Christian Bale that he can sell. Enter Harrison Cheung - who wrote "Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman".
Here is a review from an Amazon user that I feel sums up Harrison Cheung and his book:
Movie Gal With A Brain - Cruel, Vile Betrayal by Disgruntled, Reprehensible 'Fan-Boy'
"A poorly written, distasteful, and embarrassingly vengeful attack on Bale revealing the most ALL-TOO intimate, personal and vulnerable details of Bale's life. Co-author Harrison Cheung started off as an Internet Bale 'Fan-Boy' when the technology was breaking through. After receiving a letter of appreciation from Bale, he pitched a marketing proposal to him for Internet Promotion, utilizing then-popular discussion boards on sites like AOL to spread the word on Christian's films. At the time, Harrison termed Christian's fans "Baleheads." Cheung was welcomed into Bale's family on a very personal and private level, with the full knowledge that they couldn't afford to pay him immediately. Cheung goes to great lengths to outline just how financially strapped Bale was thanks to his father's overindulgence, forcing him to purchase a home with a mortgage above his means, forcing him to move to America and not attend University in the UK with his girlfriend. Cheung paints such a sympathetic picture of Bale that, when he turns on him, and reveals things so private you feel like you are a perverted voyeur reading stolen notes from a patient's private journal, you want to reach into the book and punch Cheung in the face repeatedly. While Cheung does deserve credit for building his fan base on the Internet when it was an unknown commodity, getting him press coverage, it had no impact on Bale's ability to get roles. It was Bale who defied his agent and father with regard to AMERICAN PSYCHO, aggressively pursuing the project and getting it on his own. Cheung did expose Bale to Frank Miller's BATMAN works and did change his mind on playing Batman. Cheung also did aggressively seed the Internet Batman fan posts on the Net with the concept that Bale SHOULD be the next Batman, and the advance press articles did help him get on the radar. Yet, Cheung had quit working for Bale long before casting for BATMAN BEGINS began. In the end, just weeks before Warner Bros. made its casting choice, Bale was still competing with several actors for the role, including Hugh Dancy, Eion Bailey, Henry Cavill, Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, an Cillian Murphy. Competition was so fierce, actors were still test reading. So much for Cheung's internet campaign being such a powerful factor in getting Bale the part. Again, Bale got the part based on his talent as an actor, not anything Cheung did.
"Cheung spends 210 pages revealing Bale's deepest, darkest, most personal and private secrets. Some too unmentionable to repeat. Cheung, with obvious glee and a sick sense of satisfaction, details Bale's tragic personal life. From his early childhood, how extremely traumatic the press tour for EMPIRE OF THE SUN was on him, how despite it his father continued to force acting on him, how his father psychologically manipulated Bale into continually finding himself in debt and facing IRS tax leans for over a decade, how Bale's father planted seeds that led to Bale's permanent separation from his mother and sisters - all of this ultimately robbing him of a childhood. Bales' father also squashed his passion to attend University in the UK with his girlfriend, and also his desire to live in the UK. All of this was done so Bale's father could realize a Hollywood dream for himself. Through the whole 210 pages, Cheung CONSTANTLY stresses how broke Bale's father kept him, and how his father's raising and manipulation of him left him a broken man. Then, after Bale had completed the MACHINIST, he finally broke ties with his father and did something with Cheung his father should have done upon engaging his services 10 years earlier. Bale wanted no more manipulation from anyone, and asked Cheung to sign a standard NDA. Anyone who has ever even INTERVIEWED for a job with ANY entertainment company knows these are standard. ANY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY. While, this pushed old Cheung over the edge. And he quit. The NDA was in preparation for Bale's Production Company, which he was financially in the position to FINALLY put together. Cheung states 'It was part of Christian's odd sense of entitlement that he'd think I would sign an NDA, while we were still figuring out what he was going to pay me, and what my role would be in his production company." THIS IS WHY CELEBRITIES SHOULD ALWAYS AVOID WORKING WITH INTERNET FAN-BOYS. Fan-boy Cheung was 'giggly with glee' at being asked to work for his ultimate Idol, and took it on with no issues at it being a non-paying gig. He then offered more personal services when he was taken in as part of the family - clearly proven in this book by how much they shared with him, which he has now disgustingly documented for the world to read. After admitting for 210 pages that his idol was broke for 10 years, and Bale was in the process of making good on his promise that he would be a part of his production company as soon as he could afford it, Cheung refused to sign a NDA and walked. Cheung sites Bale's well-know temper, outbursts, anger-issues, outrageous demands, and behavioral problems. Yet, anyone who has worked in Hollywood knows, Bale's behavior is no different than many other of the most talented Actors and Directors in Hollywood. Jim Cameron can be an intolerable tyrant, but boy can he make art. More than that, Cheung knew the reasons behind Bale's issues on a very intimate level, and instead of doing what any Hollywood professional would have done - accept who their employer was after 10 years of learning who he was and seized the opportunity of a lifetime - he walked like a little 'Fan-Boy' brat. He then said he was shocked when Bale wrote him a glowing reference to actor Jake Gyllenhaal when the actor was considering hiring Cheung for internet promo work.
"This book guarantees Cheung's work in Hollywood is over. It probably has been over for sometime. You burn an actor like Bale in such a cruel, unprofessional and inhumane way, no one in Hollywood will ever touch you. After all, YOU COULD BE NEXT. It all comes down to every Fan-Boy's attitude. Because they view themselves as loyal fans who build sites, post on the net, buy a hundred comic books a year, or buy every Blu-Ray edition of AVATAR, they feel they somehow 'own' a piece of a property, comic book character, film series or actor. They feel they should have a say in how they should be adapted into films. They feel the actor owes them something. It's clear from the book's beginning, as an actor, Bale was always motivated by his own sense of art and his private sense of artistic integrity. He was always going to do it his way. He doesn't owe his fans anything. And his privacy is his own.
"It's just a shame Bale's father pushed this douche-bag Cheung on him back in 1993, and that Christian Bale actually trusted him.
"DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID BY PUTTING MONEY INTO HARRISON CHEUNG'S POCKET. AND, NO HARRISON - YOU IN NO WAY MADE HIM A PHENOMENON."
Other Amazon reviewers have said:
"Mr. Cheung has no soul, no decency, no loyalty and no respect. ” M. Carlson
“There were multiple instances during my read that I thought I went back a page because he was retelling a story that he had just mentioned on a previous page. ” K. L. Scott
"Some things are just not that believable. ” Jersey
If you want to know a bit more about Christian Bale's life then here is a biography from the Biography channel (up to 2008) - which gives Bale the respect he deserves:
Here is another one: