In what I think is a wonderful show of support, The Dark Knight Rises star Christian Bale visited with victims of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings yesterday, pictured above with patient Carey Rottman.
Bale spent two and a half hours with victims, medical staff and first responders, and then visited the memorial set up outside the theater (below). As he walked among the 12 crosses erected for each of the slain victims, many people didn’t realize who he was or chose to leave him alone.
Bale was there on his own (with wife Sibi Blazic) and not as a movie studio representative. “Mr. Bale is there as himself, not representing Warner Brothers,” a representative for the studio told the Denver Post. Bale had wanted to keep the visit private and media were not notified.
Janie Bowman-Hayes, assistant vice president of surgical services at Swedish Medical Center, said Bale thanked the staff, shook hands and posed for pictures.
“He just said he wanted to come to thank all of us because he has been thinking about this. He knows the whole world has been thinking about this,” she said. “He took it upon himself to come and thank us.”
Over the weekend, Bale released a statement, saying: “Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”
An A-list Hollywood actor unselfishly giving back? I’ve long been a fan of Christian Bale the actor, but I’m now an even bigger fan of Christian Bale, the man.
Stephen Kelly Creative 
Reblogged this on Lily Wight and commented:
Thanks for this, Stephen. It’s a lovely post.
You’re welcome, my friend! I don’t know why, but I was very moved by his visit to the hospital and the memorial to the victims. I think Christian Bale is a man of deep feelings and he was genuinely affected by this tragic event, especially at what was supposed to be such a happy time. I have no doubts to his genuine sincerity and I think he did what he felt was right. Somehow I get the impression he’s a straight-up kind of guy.
I don’t doubt that he had good intentions behind his actions, but in all fairness it would be PR suicide for him if he didn’t do it.
That said, I might be wrong because there isn’t exactly much of a backlash against the other cast/crew who haven’t really said anything or gone to visit the victims.
C’mon Drew … why so cynical? I like to believe that people still do things for all the right reasons.
Yeah, you’re right. I give due props to the guy, and honestly, I don’t know why I was feeling so cynical about it. Bale just doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who puts on a show for the media.
I guess it’s just a stale morning here at work.
Pingback: Ain't no rest for the wicked – Philip Wardlow
Truly awesome story of the goodness of humanity. thank you!
In these dark times, I think it’s important to remember that humanity is never far away and there are still good, unselfish people out there.
Pingback: You’re A Classy Guy, Christian Bale, Part 2 | Stephen Kelly Creative
Nicely written, Stephen.. He is to be admired!
Cool, Paula. I’m not one to fawn over celebrities at all, but I think Christian Bale is working from a place where he truly does care. With so many selfish people out there, it’s nice to see that people still do things from the heart.
Exactly 🙂 Thank you Stephen 🙂