Health concerns? He backed out gracefully using health as an issue (as per his contract). He almost died losing 63 pounds for,'The Machinist.' It is far more dangerous (and difficult) to LOSE that kind of weight than it is to gain it.
In The Machinist (2004), Christian Bale plays the role of Trevor Reznik, a machinist with severe insomnia. The lack of sleep leads to severe weight loss, so Trevor Reznik becomes extremely thin. To be fit for Trevor Reznik character, Christian Bale needed to look drastically thin, so he had to lose a lot of weight, from 173 pounds to 110 pounds.
To lose these 63 pounds, the actor followed a draconic diet: for almost four months he ate only one can of tuna fish and/or one apple per day.
This type of diet is a very low calorie diet, ensuring only 50-260 calories/day. There are 194 calories in one can (6.5 ounce) of tuna in water (drained) and one medium size apple (about 150 g) has 80 calories. The “menu” was completed with black coffee and water.
Besides the extremely low calorie intake, the foods chosen for this diet are, by themselves, metabolism boosters. Due to the caffeine content, coffee increases the metabolism. The apples are high in sugar and pectin (a soluble fiber) which dampens down the appetite.
To lose weight faster, Christian Bale exercised hard. The star’s exercise regime included intensive cardio workouts and intensive resistance/weight training workouts.
To protect his health, the actor took each day vitamin supplements.
bye.