People shocked after seeing extreme weight transformation of Christian Bale in his career

Warning: Contains images some may find unsettling and discussion of extreme weight loss.

Many folks have been left feeling shocked after seeing the extreme weight transformation of Christian Bale during his career.

Over the years, many actors have gone above and beyond for the sake of their roles, altering their appearance accordingly to reflect the character they are portraying.

Bale is a perfect example of that, and a recent Reddit thread has showcased how his weight has fluctuated in extreme ways over the years due to the role he is playing.

American Psycho

The 50-year-old played villain Patrick Bateman in the 2000 movie - a film adaption of Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 novel of the same name.

Lionsgate

Bale built up a lot of muscle for the role, and sat at 86kg while filming.

The Machinist

The actor underwent a massive transformation in his weight in the 2004 film directed by Brad Anderson.

Bale altered his appearance radically to play the role of Trevor Reznik - a tool tradesperson who has been struggling with Insomnia for the best part of a year.

The actor lost over four stone for the role, coming in at 54kg.

"The main point was that somehow losing all the physical weight put all the energy into my brain and so I only slept two hours a night and all I wanted to do was read," he later told GQ.

Paramount Classics

"And so I would just sit and read endlessly and I found that I could read without stopping or moving or needing a distraction. I could just sit and read for 10 hours straight without moving a muscle."

Batman Begins

Just a year later, Bale featured as Batman himself in the popular 2005 movie.

The actor bulked once again for this role, something certainly evident from a topless scene of himself in the movie.

Warner Bros.

Bale weighed in at 86kg for Batman Begins - over 30kg more than for The Machinist.

The Fighter

Come 2010, Bale featured as Dicky Eklund, a recovering drug addict, who helps his half-brother get his boxing career back on track and reunite their fractured family.

Paramount Pictures

The film saw Bale weigh in at 65kg.

American Hustle

In 2013, Bale starred as Irving Rosenfeld, a con artist, in American Hustle.

For this particular role, Bale put on the pounds to portray the role - coming in at 104kg.

Sony

Vice

Now in 2018, Bale featured in another project in the form of Vice, as he portrayed main protagonist, Dick Cheney.

After overcoming several challenges in life, Dick becomes a powerful bureaucrat in Washington as vice president of the US.

Annapurna Pictures

Bale weighed 103kg for this particular movie.

Ford v Ferrari

In the 2019 movie, Bale played racing car driver Ken Miles.

In just a year, the actor dropped down to 70kg for the role.

On Reddit, many have been left shocked by the actor's weight transformation over the years.

Disney

"This type of sh*t is extremely unhealthy, and the methods that Hollywood uses to get those extreme weight changes are extremely harmful and sometimes unethical," one person penned.