The efficiency of the LA celebrity machine showed itself while we were shooting this month’s cover star in Venice beach in March. Despite only being on location for less than an hour and noone on set actually noticing any other photographers or film crews hanging around, the story was running on celebrity gossip channel TMZ that night - as well as these pap shots appearing later on Christian Bale fan sites.
The shoot itself involved putting Bale on the rocks with a fishing rod - photographer Martin Schoeller’s idea - we’re still not quite sure why - but it worked. One passer-by asked the crew who the guy in the suit was, only to be told: “He’s fucking Batman.”
Bale’s wife, Sandra Blazic, was by his side throughout the day. As was a suspicious bald man in a blue shirt and sunglasses who turned out not to be a dodgy looking security guard after all but Esquire’s art director David McKendrick. See the full shoot and interview on page 86 of the June issue, out now
