Tom Cruise Inspired Christian Bale In “American Psycho”?

Who can forget Christian Bale’s haunting portrayal of yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho”? I swear, after I saw that movie, I went out on a date with a hot Wall Street suit-and-tie who told me he was a Genesis fan. I bolted out of the restaurant, convinced that he was planning to dissect me and play with my blood. In a recent Blackbook interview,  “American Psycho” director Mary Harron revealed Christian’s true inspiration for the role was … none other than our favorite Scientologist, Tom Cruise. She says, “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on ‘David Letterman,’ and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.”

Thank you, Christian. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a while that Tom is really an alien. Hey, you don’t get to be a higher-up in The Church of Scientology for nothing. After the jump, some more celebrities that have used other stars as inspiration for roles. [Celebitchy]

• When Kate Bosworth was looking for inspiration for the role of Lois Lane in “Superman Returns,” she found the perfect combination of strength and fragility in Hollywood great Katharine Hepburn. Bosworth watched Hepburn in “The Philadelphia Story” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to prepare for the film. [Contact Music]
• After seeing him in “500 Days of Summer,” we know that Joseph Gordon-Levitt can play a lover. But what did he do to prepare to play Cobra Commander in “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”? He watched and listened to Jay-Z. Joseph said, “Jay-Z has the perfect grandeur and bravado for this character. Jay-Z literally calls himself ‘J Hova’ after God. He calls himself God MC, me, J Hova. And the character that I play in ‘G.I. Joe’ certainly fancies himself a kind of God.” [KCRW]
• We all know Vanessa Hudgens as the sweet and clean-cut Gabriella in “High School Musical.” She explored uncharted territory as rocker chic Sa5M in the film “Bandslam.” So, how did Vanessa tap into her dark side? She drew her inspiration from Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams in “The Addams Family.” Vanessa told Sugar magazine, “I watched ‘The Addams Family’ a lot and tapped into Wednesday’s deadpan character. Plus I had to wear Doc Martens boots throughout the entire film. It was fun creating a whole new me.” [Angry Ape]