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BY THE NUMBERS
W ho better to explain the 2008 financial
crisis than a naked Margot Robbie in a
bubble bath?
However, its Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Steve
Carell and Christian Bale who do the real heavy
lifting in The Big Short, making a comedy out
of the financial meltdown. Portraying real-life
investment fund manager Dr. Mike Burry, Bale
nailed every aspect of his personality, from
his obsession with numbers to his passion for
heavy metal drumming.
In real life, Bale hasn’t a clue about finances.
“I’m terrible with numbers, but a few years
back, I had to figure out some investments.
And I’m an actor, so I just pretended to be
somebody who adores numbers, and I would
go through and leave no page unturned, and I
actually did pretty bloody well with them. But it
didn’t last – I’m really somebody who couldn’t
be less interested in that world. Fortunately my
wife is very good at that kind of thing, so I leave
it to her.”
As ever, Bale relished
studying the real Dr. Burry.
“I love that part of the work.
You get to ask questions
and study people in a way
that you’d be considered a
creepy stalker under other
circumstances. We actually
sat together for about nine
hours; we didn’t get up from
Christian Bale learns the fine art of investment fund management
in the financial crash comedy THE BIG SHORT.
our chairs, we just talked non-stop. And it was
fascinating, a really wonderful conversation, and
I liked his company a great deal.”
He did recognise some parallels between
himself and Burry. “In terms of brain capacity,
noooo. Not at all,” he smiles. “But what I
believe we share in common is that I do what I
do because I am obsessed with it, and I have a
passion and a love and a hate for it, and never
did I expect to really earn a living, let alone a
very good living at it, but it all came from that
motivation. And that’s what I see in Mike as
well; as opposed to a clichéd Wall Street guy
desperate for power and money, Mike came
at it from a point of view of an obsession with
numbers.”
The real Dr. Burry made a fortune for his
clients, despite the stress he endured when his
clients believed he was making a risky bet. “He
got very ill through that whole period, largely
because of some of these relationships where
people got furious at him, and even afterwards
when he had earned them a
fortune and he was proven
correct, they still remain
furious. It’s confusion beyond
belief. It really disillusioned
him,” says Bale.Gill Pringle
The Big Short
is in cinemas now
L ike many of his contemporaries,
Robert De Niro admits it's a struggle
keeping up with technology.
Portraying a senior intern at an online fashion
site in comedy The Intern, he soon got up to
speed, thanks to co-star Anne Hathaway.
“He was still using a flip phone when we
met,” teases Hathaway when Stack meets
with the Oscar-winning duo.
The veteran actor has been through
something of a transformation since then.
“I can use a computer and an iPhone, send
emails, texts and Google,” says De Niro, 72.
“I resisted for a while, until I was getting so
many messages, I realised that it was easier
to learn. It’s a little bit annoying that nobody
talks on the phone any more, they just text.
My own kids included.”
Forever old-school, he adds: “But if
I’m going to have a communication about
something, and consummate it, I want to
consummate it verbally and face to face.”
For her role, Hathaway visited several major
online shopping sites including Nasty Girl and
Moda Operandi, happily admitting to her own
shopping addiction. “Net-a-Porter was having
a 70 per cent off sale this week and I was like
‘Nice! Time to buy the row!’”
De Niro shakes his head and smiles. “I
don’t do any of that. People in my office get
stuff for me on the internet. I prefer to go see
something and see if it’s right and that it fits.”
Hathaway doesn’t mind
admitting she’s still a little
starstruck by her esteemed
co-star. “When Robert
talks, everyone is transfixed
by him. He’s a legend for a
reason.” Gill Pringle
The Internis out on
February 10
ARE YOU
TEXTING ME?
Screen legend Robert De Niro
picked up a few techno tips
from his Intern co-star Anne
Hathaway.
visit EXTRAS NEWS
08 SUMMER EDITION 2016
EXTRAS