Christian Bale, 48, is undoubtedly one of Hollywood's biggest stars. He became particularly famous in the 2000s with Christopher Nolan's (52) "Dark Knight" trilogy (2005-2012), in which he played the "Dark Knight" Batman. But Bale is apparently not even close to the same level as superstar Leonardo DiCaprio (47). At least that's what the actor explained to the magazine "GQ". "Any part that anyone gets, they only get it because [Leo DiCaprio] turned it down before," Bale said in an interview published Wednesday.

Bale goes on to say that directors and other Hollywood players he spoke to all assured him that whatever role he ended up playing, they would have offered DiCaprio beforehand. So DiCaprio was initially intended as the main actor in the psychological thriller "American Psycho" (2000) based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis (58). The 47-year-old dropped out, however, and Bale finally made his breakthrough as an A-lister in Hollywood with his portrayal of psychotic yuppie killer Patrick Bateman.

"I would guess that almost everyone who is around [DiCaprio's] age owes their careers to [DiCaprio] turning down a certain project," Bale said. However, the Batman actor does not harbor a grudge against his ten-month younger acting colleague, as he assured "GQ". "I mean, I can't do what he's doing. I wouldn't want the publicity that he's got. And he's doing it brilliantly," said Bale, who began dating Margot Robbie on November 3 (32) in the star-studded crime comedy "Amsterdam" by director David O. Russell (64) will be seen on German cinema screens.