Batman fans would surely have a hard time recognizing the typically fit and muscular Christian Bale in his latest role as Vice President Dick Cheney.
Adam McKay, who won an Academy Award for his film 2015 The Big Short, on Tuesday unveiled the first teaser trailer promoting his upcoming Cheney biopic titled Vice, starring the 44-year-old Bale as George W Bush’s second-in-command and Sam Rockwell as the 43rd president.
The 12-second teaser opens with a heavyset, bespectacled Bale-as-Cheney marching down a bleak hallway, with the words ‘some vices are more dangerous than others’ superimposed over the frame.
From Batman to VP: Christian Bale has transformed himself into Dick Cheney for his latest role in the upcoming film Vice
A teaser trailer released Tuesday shows a scene depicting Cheney’s 2006 quail hunting accident
The blink-and-you-missed-it clip briefly shows Cheney with his wife, Lynn, portrayed by his American Hustle co-star Amy Adams, and offers a few glimpses into his career and life, including the infamous 2006 quail hunting accident, in which the hawkish VP inadvertently shot a friend in the face.
The movie, which is set to open in theaters on December 25, follows Cheney’s rise to power within the Bush administration between 2001 and 2009.
Bale, who is widely known in Hollywood for undergoing dramatic physical transformations for movie roles, has said that in order to embody Cheney, he packed up 40lbs, shaved his head and bleached and plucked his eyebrows daily during shooting.
Transformation: Bale, 44, has said he packed up 40lbs, shaved his head and bleached and plucked his eyebrows to portray George W Bush’s second-in-command
‘What Christian Bale really does is he psychologically breaks someone apart and puts them back together again,’ McKay told Deadline. ‘I’ve never seen someone work so hard at it, and it is hard on him, but really amazing to watch. The second I thought of doing the movie, I knew right away, the most exciting person to play him is Christian.’
It also stars The Office alum Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Bill Pullman as Nelson Rockefeller, and LisaGay Hamilton as Condoleezza Rice.
The full trailer for the film will be released on Wednesday.