roundglut90: Christian Bale Accepts SAG Award With 'Fighter' Alter Ego Dicky Eklund

'Thank you for living the life and thank you for letting me play you,' Bale tells Eklund onstage.
By Aly Semigran

Dicky Eklund amd Christian Bale
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Christian Bale continued his awards-season domination Sunday night (January 30) at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, as he emerged victorious in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in "The Fighter."

While heading to the podium to accept a statue has been nothing new for Bale over the past few weeks, things were a little different this time as the real-life Dicky Eklund joined him onstage in an unexpected moment. ("Fighter" star/producer Mark Wahlberg revealed moments later that he encouraged Eklund to go up if Bale won.)

After Bale reached the mic to thank voters, Eklund appeared and put his arm around the actor and embraced him with a handshake and a hug. "Dicky! All right!" a surprised Bale said. "This is the original quacker right here!" Eklund, wearing a black tux and a blue bow tie, congratulated Bale and told him, "Good job, Christian."

Bale reciprocated the feelings and told Eklund, "Thank you, mate. Thank you for living the life and thank you for letting me play you." To which Eklund, referring to a song by the Heavy that is featured in "The Fighter," asked, "How you like me now?" Before Eklund exited the stage, Bale responded with a smile, "I like you now."

The actor continued with his speech by thanking his fellow actors, particularly those who worked with him on the film.

"I love acting, I love what we do," Bale said of his profession. "It's so bloody silly at times, isn't it? It's like playing dress-up, and other times it is so meaningful. I just enjoy that so much. We get to walk in other people's shoes," adding, "Life without empathy is no fun at all."

Bale went on to talk to about how young actors often approach him to ask how he broke into the business, to which he told the SAG audience, "I never have any answers whatsoever."

But he said what keeps him motivated as an actor in such a tough industry is, "I find people endlessly fascinating. As long as you can do that, each project seems like something new." Still, he noted that any actor should be so lucky to work with his "Fighter" co-star. "Bumping into Mark Wahlberg ain't bad."

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