The fight for Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘American Psycho’ is still on
Luca Guadagnino is bringing his own take on American Psycho to life. The issue is we still do not know who his Patrick Bateman is going to be. It was said that an offer was going out to Austin Butler for the role but that may have changed.
I have a lot of opinions on this. American Psycho is my favorite piece of literature, film, and musical. I just love how we can unpack Patrick Bateman in a myriad of ways. So whenever there are fancasts going around for the role, I have thoughts. One such fancast is Patrick Schwarzenegger and to be honest, I don’t hate the idea.
Schwarzenegger became the talk of the town after his role as Saxton Ratliff in The White Lotus season 3. He was waspy, rich, and kind of the worst. A lot of qualities that Patrick Bateman shares. I wish that Schwarzenegger was a bit young (Bateman is famously 27 in the story) but I can let that slide. And Schwarzenegger clearly wants the role.
When he was fancast online, Schwarzenegger shared it by saying “I’d love nothing more.” And now, according to source from The Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenegger is very much “on the radar” of those in charge of casting for the Guadagnino take. When asked about it, Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter “What’s on the very top of it is to work with a person like that, like Luca.”
I understand his desire to work with Guadagnino. He’s one of the best directors working today. But I do think it is interesting that they’re clearly working hard on trying to figure out which of the actors in the ring would be the right fit for the Wall Street serial killer.
It isn’t an easy role
There are layers to playing Patrick Bateman. He’s someone who is funny, uppity, and sinister all rolled into one. The cheesy way he talks about music is both hilarious and unnerving and that balance is what makes Christian Bale’s performance something special to watch.
Now I do think that Schwarzenegger can do it. I think that many of our new Hollywood It boys will do a great job with this role but I am intrigued to see what Luca Guadagnino and writer Scott M. Burns do with the Bret Easton Ellis novel. There are aspects of the novel that I hope they leave behind but it is a bit different from Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner’s take on it.
The musical is different from the book and the movie and the movie made changes, that’s the beauty of adaptation. And I hope that Burns and Guadagnino have fun with their take on this story.
All this to say that if it was Patrick Schwarzenegger, I’d take it. I honestly am really open about different takes on Patrick Bateman but I just need whoever brings my favorite fictional serial killer to life to find that very delicate balance in playing him. And maybe we’ll still have Patrick Bateman dancing around to Huey Lewis and the News in a rain coat just for the vibes of it all, right?
(featured image: Lionsgate)
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