Patrick Schwarzenegger is hoping to take a stab at a choice role that happens to bear his first name.
Schwarzenegger, who has made no secret over the years of his affinity for American Psycho, is continuing to lobby publicly to play lead character Patrick Bateman in director Luca Guadagnino‘s planned feature adaptation of author Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 best-selling novel. Christian Bale played the investment banker harboring murderous fantasies in director Mary Harron’s cult-favorite film version that hit theaters in 2000 from Lionsgate.
In response to an X (formerly Twitter) user posting Wednesday that playing Bateman could be Schwarzenegger’s “breakout role,” the actor replied, “I’d love nothing more,” adding a winking emoticon.
This is not the first time that Schwarzenegger, who earned acclaim for his work on the recently concluded third season of HBO’s The White Lotus, has made it known that he has his heart set on donning Bateman’s designer suits. When development on Guadagnino’s project was first reported last fall, Schwarzenegger responded to a post about the news with, “My dream.”
In 2021, Schwarzenegger dressed as Patrick Bateman for a Vanity Fair photo shoot celebrating notable films from the early 2000s.
Christian Bale in American Psycho.
Courtesy Everett Collection
Guadagnino appeared in a video segment during Lionsgate’s presentation at CinemaCon last month to tease his new American Psycho. The Challengers filmmaker praised Ellis’ book — which satirizes the 1980s yuppie culture — as influential to him and noted that the script from Scott Z. Burns “is coming out very handsomely.”
At the time, Guadagnino said he was in “conversation with very exciting performers to play the leads” but did not name anyone specifically. Rumors circulated late last year about Austin Butler being eyed to play Patrick Bateman.
During a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Harron’s American Psycho, that film’s casting director Kerry Barden offered his thoughts on whether Butler might be a good fit for the part.
“I would cast Austin in Jared [Leto’s] role because he’s that beautiful, and that’s why we cast Jared, is because he’s that beautiful,” Barden said of the banker character named Paul Allen that Leto portrayed in the first movie. “Jared is certainly a great actor as well, and obviously, Austin has a lot of depth as an actor, too. But not every person has that kind of beauty.”
When speaking with THR for a story published last month for the White Lotus finale, Schwarzenegger said he planned to be patient before deciding on his next projects amid the career heat from the buzzy show. The actor’s previous credits include American Sports Story, Gen V and Midnight Sun.
“I really want to find something that’s right,” Schwarzenegger explained. “You know, there is one thing that I’m working on with this amazing director, a director that I’ve looked up to for my whole career. I’ve loved his projects, and we’re making something, and I hope it happens later this year. That would be extremely difficult and would put me through the most challenging, probably, life experience and acting experience.”
