5 Actors Who Can Replace Christian Bale As American Psycho's Patrick Bateman

Now that we know "Call Me By Your Name" and "Challengers" director Luca Guadagnino is making his own version of "American Psycho" — one that's based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel, not the 2000 movie helmed by writer-director Mary Harron — the world is waiting to see who Guadagnino and his team choose to play this generation's Patrick Bateman. I'm eminently unqualified to make this decision — for one thing, I'm not a casting director, and also, nobody asked me — but I definitely have ideas. 

Here's one: Guadagnino could gender-flip the role and cast Zendaya, his "Challengers" lead who proved, throughout the tennis drama, that she can definitely play an apex predator. If she's not available, Margaret Qualley could probably make a meal out of the role. If we're sticking with guys, there are some great options who have simply aged out of the role; Robert Pattinson and Penn Badgley could both bring something quite excellent to Patrick, but neither of them are in their 20s. (Badgley, to be fair, also might want a break from playing sadistic killers when "You" wraps up.) Okay, so what are some serious suggestions? Which young actors could possibly manage to follow in Christian Bale's footsteps? Here are a few options.

My personal pick has to be Mike Faist, who rose to prominence in 2021 thanks to his outstanding supporting turn as Riff, the fearless leader of the Jets, in Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story" (which really didn't get the full acclaim it deserved). Broadway fans know that Faist also played the vital supporting role of Connor Murphy in the original production of "Dear Evan Hansen," which earned him both a Grammy and Daytime Emmy — plus a Tony nomination for best actor in a featured role in a musical — and after "West Side Story," he appeared in the Amazon original series "Panic." He's also worked with Luca Guadagnino already in "Challengers" alongside my real choice for Patrick Bateman (Zendaya) and Josh O'Connor (who is not on this list because, despite being a formidable actor, his vibes are far too sweet for the role).

Faist would be incredible, though. He was slightly underutilized in "Challengers," largely because Zendaya and O'Connor got a meatier storyline, but Faist has the sheer talent to sell Bateman as both a high-flying investment banker and a murderer. Plus, it would give him a chance to really show off his range to a much wider audience. Some other picks on this list have more name recognition, but I would love to see what Faist would do with this opportunity.

Harris Dickinson is relatively new to the scene — he made his on-screen debut in the 2017 independent film "Beach Rats," which didn't make a particularly enormous impression outside of cinephile circles — but throughout the past few years, he's firmly established himself as a fascinating young actor who picks ambitious, audacious projects. In 2021, Dickinson appeared in "The King's Man," part of the "Kingsman" franchise, and the following year brought three major projects with it: the Saoirse Ronan-Sam Rockwell murder-mystery "See How They Run," the literary adaptation "Where the Crawdad Sings," and Dickinson's most bizarre and astounding performance yet, the dark comedy "Triangle of Sadness." (Don't watch that last one if you have a sensitive stomach.) Now, thanks to "The Iron Claw," his reunion with Saoirse Ronan in Steve McQueen's "Blitz," and, of course, "Babygirl," his steamy team-up with Nicole Kidman, Dickinson is one of the industry's busiest young performers.

There's really no question that Dickinson would make a great Patrick Bateman. Not only does he have Christian Bale's classically good looks, but we know from the "Babygirl" trailer alone that he can quickly switch gears and become domineering and sinister. It might feel like a left-field choice, but it also feels somewhat certain that a director as talented as Luca Guadagnino could get an astounding performance out of an actor as versatile as Dickinson.

Are you looking for a young, brunette actor with raw magnetism and undeniable charisma who's proven that he can be both charming and terrifying? Allow me to introduce you to Jacob Elordi, the Australian performer who rose to prominence on Sam Levinson's controversy-ridden HBO series "Euphoria" as the show's resident bad boy Nate Jacobs. Nate is, to put it lightly, a horrifying vision of a high school boyfriend who torments his on-again, off-again girlfriend Maddy Perez (Alexia Demie), her best friend Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney), and basically anyone who ever gets in his way. Elordi showed off a new side in Emerald Fennell's sophomore film "Saltburn" as the wealthy Felix Catton and another in Sofia Coppola's biopic "Priscilla" — where he plays a young Elvis Presley to Cailee Spaeny's Priscilla — proving that he's much more than just a really evil, really good-looking high schooler.

As we wait for Luca Guadagnino and his creative team to anoint a new Patrick Bateman, Elordi's name will probably get thrown around quite a lot because he's enormously tall (he stands at six feet, five inches), he has brown hair, and he's definitely got the sinister side required to play the character. Elordi would, to be honest, be a great choice, and unless he doesn't want to participate or simply isn't available, it makes perfect sense for him to be a part of the conversation.

Over the past couple of years, Nicholas Galitzine has proven that he'll do just about anything on-screen — in that most of his major roles are seriously steamy. After getting his start in the TV series "Legends" in 2015, Galitzine played the romantic lead in a 2021 remake of "Cinderella" and in the 2022 Netflix original movie "Purple Hearts" before making a much bigger splash with the 2023 Amazon original film "Red, White & Royal Blue" (an adaptation of Casey McQuiston's best-selling queer romance novel). As the conflicted, lovestruck Prince Henry, Galitzine shines alongside his co-star Taylor Zakhar Perez — who plays the first son of the United States, with whom Henry falls head over heels in love — and the film performed so unexpectedly well that it's getting a sequel penned by McQuiston. That same year, Galitzine showed off his comedic timing in "Bottoms," and in 2024, he played a traditional rom-com leading man in "The Idea of You" (opposite Anne Hathaway) and a queer duke trying to survive amidst intrigue at the royal court in "Mary & George" (with Julianne Moore).

While Galitzine hasn't really shown off a frightening or sinister side just yet, he could absolutely make that happen if he were cast as Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino's take on "American Psycho." The young actor pretty much always plays a romantic lead, but he's certainly versatile, and Bateman could be the perfect first villain role for Galitzine.

Lukas Gage might be the least recognizable name on this list, but he would make an excellent Patrick Bateman ... partly because, well, he bears a semi-decent resemblance to Christian Bale. Gage is also an incredibly hard worker; after he went viral in 2020 for sharing a video of a director bad-mouthing his crappy apartment during a Zoom audition (it was Tristram Shapeero, who apologized), Gage went on to appear in Netflix's outlandish satire "American Vandal," the first season of Mike White's hit HBO anthology series "The White Lotus," "Euphoria" (where he shares scenes with Jacob Elordi), "Love, Victor," and Penn Badgley's aforementioned murder series "You." On the big screen, Gage has booked supporting roles in big projects like the remake of "Road House" and "Smile 2," so he's definitely not going anywhere. Could his next move be Luda Guadagnino's "American Psycho?"

Gage, like a few other people on this list, has shown an apparent willingness to do anything (a certain scene from "The White Lotus" with Emmy winner Murray Bartlett comes to mind) and is a fearless, inventive actor who could definitely bring a unique take to Bateman, especially under the guidance of somebody like Luca Guadagnino. Plus, if Gage books the role, it could really boost his career into the stratosphere.

If you want to stream the 2000 movie version of "American Psycho" and get inspired, it's available on Netflix.