Christian Bale plays Dicky Eklund in THE FIGHTER.

LOS ANGELES -- Christian Bale was transforming himself physically long before he dressed up as a giant bat.

Consider the murderous, sculpted investment banker he played in American Psycho. Or, even more distressingly, the emaciated insomniac he inhabited in The Machinist, for which he shed 60 pounds (which he then promptly put back on -- and then some -- for Batman Begins).

So is it any wonder the 36-year-old fields more questions about weight loss than a Jenny Craig pitchman?

"Usually, I say I do a lot of coke whenever I lose weight, but I'm not sure if that's funny for this movie," a bearded, long-haired Bale tells journalists at a Beverly Hills hotel.

That's because the film in question is The Fighter. Opening Friday, the fact-based drama chronicles the fierce, at times frustrating bond between Boston pugilist Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his half-brother/trainer, Dickie Eklund (Bale), himself a promising boxer before he became addicted to crack. His ravaged performance -- glassy-eyed, skeletal, balding -- has made Bale himself a contender as Hollywood rolls toward awards season.

Still, he downplays the physical strain the film took on him. "I was running like crazy. I could run for hours on end. And I felt really healthy. There's not a whole lot of secrets to it."

Nor to how the role came to Bale. Wahlberg, who is also one of the producers, had struggled for years to get the movie made. When he saw Bale at the pre-school their daughters both attend, he approached The Dark Knight star with the part. The character of Dickie had been attracting top-tier talent for years. First, Matt Damon was to co-star with Wahlberg; when he dropped out, Brad Pitt circled. Eventually he bailed too -- as did director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler).

With Bale, Wahlberg realized, "There is the guy who is not scared to play this part. Everybody else loves the idea of it but no one really wants to commit and go there. And I had seen The Machinist and Rescue Dawn, so I knew if he responds to the material, this is a chance for the best possible version of the movie.

"I could see why people were attracted to the part but again it can be intimidating. He's a fearless actor."

Shortly thereafter, Wahlberg signed David O. Russell (Three Kings) to direct. As the project moved forward, Ward and Eklund -- who live in Lowell, Mass., -- even moved into Wahlberg's Los Angeles home.

Reflecting on the relationship between the brothers -- which was complicated by Ward's romance with a local bartender (Amy Adams) -- Bale offers this assessment: "I think (Dickie) was an absolute source of inspiration initially and then I think he probably became an absolute confusion for his younger brother because it's an immensely loyal family "¦ Once Dickie was able to realize it was no longer his time, it was Micky's time and then convince the family of that, which took some doing, then Dickie was no end of help for Micky. I don't think it could have happened with one or the other."

And the time spent with Eklund was also critical for Bale for other reasons. After all, as if altering his physique wasn't challenging enough, the Welsh actor also had to tackle the peculiarities of Dickie's Boston accent.

"Mark was a great deal of help. He wouldn't say anything -- he would just get a certain look on his face when you said something and you just knew that wasn't it," Bale says.

"But Dickie's got his own thing going on. He calls it Dickenese. And I think everyone will agree that I had to tone down his natural rhythm and voice because I understand it completely now because my ear is in with it.

"But if I had done it exactly like Dickie, you'd have needed subtitles probably."

Real-life scrapping in film

Director David O. Russell famously fought with George Clooney during the making of Three Kings. So it probably shouldn't be a surprise that punches were nearly thrown during the making of The Fighter.

Just not between who you might think.

"There were a couple of times where I had to physically restrain Dickie (Eklund) from landing one right on David," says Christian Bale who plays the drug-addled former boxer in the film. Mark Wahlberg stars as Dickie's brother, "Irish" Micky Ward. "We had some initial interesting times when we were rehearsing in Mark's house, where Mark very nicely put up Micky (Ward) and Dickie and they actually lived at his house for some time," Bale remembers.

"There were some script changes going on and Dickie wasn't initially totally understanding that sometimes when you put your whole life into two hours a little bit of licence has to be taken and things have to be mixed up. He wanted everything to be portrayed exactly how it was.

"Then we'd talk and David would talk with him. I'm not sure if David ever had to stop him from coming and laying one on me. That could well have happened as well. It was an interesting time. He actually came around and seemed to really understand it. After we showed him the movie he didn't punch any of us."

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