Credit: Youtube / Annapurna Pictures

Best known for his starring role on Batman, actor Christian Bale has gone on to assume a range of roles, all requiring incredible changes to his body. Remembered for his eery skeletal character in Machinist (2004), we didn’t think his transformations could get any more extreme – until the unveiling of his latest film.

Revealed yesterday, Annapurna Pictures debuted its trailer to political film drama, Vice. Based on true events that ultimately shaped the country of America forever, Christian Bale plays vice-president Dick Cheney as he joins the political party of George W. Bush (played by Sam Rockwell). Exploring events during that time, Vice looks into Cheney as he pulled the country into war, instigated waterboarding as a form of torture and more.

Required to gain an extra 40 pounds as well as perform exercises to thicken his neck (yes, that happened), Bale went to all lengths as well as shaving his head and bleaching his eyebrows to transform into the politician.

“I don’t know if there’s anyone like Christian Bale on the planet Earth. The man’s just amazing… I didn’t just want someone to do an impression of Dick Cheney. What Christian Bale really does is he psychologically breaks someone apart and puts them back together again,” director Adam McKay told Deadline. “I’ve never seen someone work so hard at it, and it is hard on him, but really amazing to watch. The second I thought of doing the movie, I knew right away, the most exciting person to play him is Christian.”

The film also stars Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Bill Pullman as Nelson Rockefeller, among others.

Watch the trailer below for an insight into the new film. Vice is set to hit cinemas on December 25, 2018.