Christian Bale was left ‘screaming like crazy’ during transformation for new movie

Christian Bale has told how he found 'screaming like crazy' on the set of his new film extremely cathartic.

The legendary screen star, 52, explained that bellowing from the depths of his soul was the only way he kept himself from 'going insane' while filming The Bride!

He had to sit extremely still for up to six hours each day to transform into Frankenstein's monster for the upcoming flick, which is set to land in cinemas next Friday (6 March).

And to deal with the ants in his pants, Bale decided to put his vocal chords to good use and scream from the top of his lungs while he was being buried under layers of prosthetics and makeup.

The actor stars opposite Oscar-winner Jessie Buckley in the spooky new movie, which is written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Inspired by both Mary Shelley's classic novel and the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, the film follows the monster's unorthodox mission to find love with the help of a groundbreaking scientist.

Take a look at the trailer for it here:

The synopsis for The Bride! explains: "In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein's monster asks Dr Euphronius to create a companion for him.

"Together, they give life to a murdered woman known as 'the Bride', sparking romance, police interest and radical social change."

The line-up for the gothic romance film also includes stars such as Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz.

Luckily for those lot, they managed to dodge spending a torturous amount of time in the glam chair.

Bale wasn't so lucky though, given that he is taking the lead in The Bride! and playing the memorable monster.

The actor said repeatedly screaming was the only thing that kept him sane during the transformation process (Warner Bros)

The Dark Knight actor explained he had to summon a 'great deal of stillness' - and no doubt patience - to sit through the lengthy transformation process.

To prevent him 'from going insane' while trapped in the chair for hours on end, Bale said he 'would scream like crazy every day'.

Explaining his reasoning for this wacky approach to persevering through the makeover, he told Entertainment Weekly: "Just to [release the] despair, all of that restraint that you have to display when you're sitting still for that long."

He made the conscious choice to scream his head off while being covered in prosthetics as he didn't want to put himself in danger by doing it during his commute...or look like a crank.

"I didn't want to do it driving into work because I thought I might cause a crash," Bale continued. "And I didn't want to do it by myself because I thought everyone would just think I'm going nuts."

Bale and Buckley seen on the set of The Bride! in May 2024 (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

The Bride! star said his screaming habit ended up catching on too - as after the makeup and hair team started joining in, soon, the whole crew was in on it.

Dubbing this a 'great bonding experience', Bale said: "It was great to have the makeup and hair team who all just loved it. If I ever forgot, if I was in my own little bubble thinking about the day's work, they would stop me and go, 'Oh, scream.' And then we would all do our screaming together.

"The whole crew got involved by the end, because people would hear us screaming. We would open the doors, and gradually, a bit like the Bride's revolution, a few people were going, 'Can we do it too?'

"And then by the end, there were like 30 people who would hear us and run to the makeup trailer to be a part of it and scream as well. I think it helps everybody."

Let's hope their trailers were soundproof, eh?