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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 12 November 2019
Bale and Damon go into overdrive for 'Ford v Ferrari'

NEW YORK (AP) — France's to be a certain amount of was taking his time with it,"
legendary Le Mans race, hate for it as well. I think remembers Damon. "Jim
the central contest de- both sides understand, finally called and he goes,
picted in James Mangold's 'Hey, we can't do it without 'This is you! What is taking
"Ford v Ferrari," runs more them. And they can't do you so long?!' And Chris-
than 3,000 miles over the that without us.'" tian's like, 'Do you think I'm
course of 24 hours. But "But if you get too pally, the a (expletive)?' He goes,
that's nothing compared films won't be any good," 'No, not that part. The part
to the distance Christian quips Bale, letting out a about him being a perfec-
Bale had to cover coming roar. tionist and a pure racer.'"
off playing Dick Cheney in Bale and Damon were "Yes, he was a real purist
This image released by 20th Century fox shows Christian Bale, "Vice." meeting for an interview and would happily, know-
right, and Matt Damon in a scene from "Ford v. Ferrari," in the- "When I first signed up for it, earlier this fall at the Toron- ingly win the battle and
aters on Nov. 15. Jim said, 'This is great, we've to International Film Festival lose the war at the same
Associated Press got six months until we shortly before "Ford v Ferra- time," says Bale, an actor
start. Christian weighs 240 ri" premiered there, quickly renowned for the intensive
pounds,'" recalls Matt Da- finding glowing reviews as immersion of his perfor-
mon. "I was like, 'He weighs a fine-tuned throwback mances. "They're both ab-
what?'" thrill ride predicated on the solutely insane. "They just
Bale, sitting next to his co- swaggering, charismatic exhibit it in different ways."
star, lights up. "He's rolling performances and easy Bale and Damon are play-
down the track!" Bale says, chemistry of its two stars. ing extensions of them-
laughing. "Without a car!" Damon, having flown in selves, Mangold says.
"I would just get these pe- from France where he was "Matt's been a movie star
riodic updates. But he did in the middle of shooting forever. Shelby was a star in
it," says Damon, shaking his Tom McCarthy's "Stillwater," racing forever," said Man-
head. "When I saw him on had his own role-to-role gold, speaking by phone
set, I said, 'How did you lose transformation to make. from Los Angeles. "And
70 pounds?' And he just Before posing for a pho- Christian, one of the things
said, 'Didn't eat.'" tograph, a make-up artist I've always felt about him is
In "Ford v Ferrari," Damon worked to remove a shoul- he's such a lovely, charm-
plays visionary automotive der tattoo Damon had ing, loving person. So many
designer Carroll Shelby and acquired for the film. "Be of the characters he's cho-
Bale plays maverick British gentle," said Damon. "I'm sen to play along the way
racer Ken Miles. Shelby and an actor." are incredible portrayals
Miles were brought togeth- "Ford v Ferrari" is their first but are very, very dark. But
er by the Ford Motor Co. to film together even though there's something extreme-
defeat perennial Le Mans Damon, 49, and Bale, 45, ly effervescent and play-
champions Ferrari in 1966. are roughly contempo- ful and inspired about this
They are both dedicated, raries. character and it's so much
driven personalities who "I think I've taken a lot of closer, to me, about who
chafe at the dictates of the roles that Matt passed Christian really is."
overlords at Ford. "Ford v on," says Bale. "I've worked "Ford v Ferrari" cost nearly
Ferrari," a rare big-budget thanks to Matt, just not with $100 million to make for
original film, is about high- Matt." 20th Century Fox. Following
speed mavericks shrugging A significant part of the fun the studio's acquisition, the
off corporate control to ac- of "Ford v Ferrari," which movie will be released by
complish something singu- will open in theaters Nov. the Walt Disney Co., and it
lar. 15, is seeing their dynamic will likely be the company's
For its two movie stars, it's together. Shelby, a sunny, top awards contender.
a story not so unlike the hat-wearing Texan and While films sometimes split
battles of getting movies already a Le Mans cham- leads into separate cat-
— movies like "Ford v Fer- pion, was the more famous egories, both Bale and Da-
rari" — made in today's Hol- of the two. He's more ad- mon will be campaigned
lywood. ept at balancing their rac- as best-actor candidates.
"The parallels to the movie ing needs with those of their The actors, though, say they
business, they were pretty corporate overlords. Miles, always thought "Ford v Fer-
easy for all of us to see," with his chin upturned, is a rari" was, first and foremost,
says Damon. "Shelby and proud, pugnacious perfec- a crowd-pleaser, a "movie-
Ken needed Ford. They tionist who can't, for a sec- movie." Both already have
weren't going to get any- ond, suffer fools. an Oscar (best-supporting
where without Ford, and Mangold, the maker of actor in "The Fighter" for
they knew it. And Ford muscular genre films like Bale, best original screen-
needed them. That's the "Cop Land" and the Oscar- play for "Good Will Hunting"
movie business. There's al- nominated "Logan," had for Damon). But they iden-
ways that tension." worked with Bale before tify with their characters in
"There should be," adds on the 2007 western "3:10 that they care more about
Bale. "There has to be that to Yuma," and he was con- results than trophies.
tension in order to cre- vinced Bale was intended "I do think it's different in
ate something wonderful. to be Miles. that in what we do, any
There's got to be love for "Jim had taken the script awards are a matter of
something and there's got to Christian and I guess he opinion," says Bale. q