‘The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale on Meeting Donald Trump: “He Thought I Was Bruce Wayne”

While doing press for his upcoming movie, Vice, Christian Bale revealed an interesting story about Donald Trump.

According to the actor, the President once treated him as though he was actually Bruce Wayne AKA the man behind the Batman mask, who Bale portrayed in The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Since Bale plays Dick Cheney in Vice, Variety asked the Oscar-winning actor who he thought should play Trump in a movie about him. This lead to a humorous anecdote about the actor meeting Trump, pre-presidency.

“He’s a tall gentleman,” replied Bale, “I met him one time. We were filming on Batman in Trump Tower and he said ‘come on up.’”

Bale revealed that he took the future President up on his offer and came to see Trump in costume. When asked what he and Donald Trump discussed, Bale had a pretty hilarious answer (and honestly, we can’t tell if he’s joking).

“I think he thought I was Bruce Wayne, because I was dressed as Bruce Wayne, so he talked to me like I was Bruce Wayne and I just went along with it.” It’s a shame he didn’t show up in the Batman costume, because that would have been an even funnier interaction.

“It was quite entertaining,” Bale laughed. While the actor has surely been treated as his iconic characters before, it’s pretty hilarious to image the President of the United States thinking he is actually having a conversation with Bruce Wayne.

“I had no idea at the time that he would think about running for president,” Bale adds. The actor also credited the presidency of “Individual Number One” for the reason Vice was able to be made.

The political film is being helmed by Adam McKay, who received critical recognition for directing The Big Short back in 2015. In addition to Bale, Vice also stars Amy Adams (Lynne Cheney), Steve Carell (Donald Rumsfeld), and Sam Rockwell (George W. Bush). The movie also features Jesse Plemons, Alison Pill, Eddie Marsan, Lily Rabe, Shea Whigham, and Tyler Perry as Colin Powell.

Vice is also set to be a major contender this Awards Season, raking in six Golden Globe nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, including nods for Bale’s performance as the former Vice President.

Vice hits theaters everywhere on December 25th, 2018.