Introduction When American Psycho premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000, it sharply divided audiences. Some praised it as a biting satire of Wall Street excess and late-1980s materialism. Others condemned the film as violent and misogynistic. Directed by Mary Harron and based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel, the film has […] The post AMERICAN PSYCHO: A 25th Anniversary Oral History appeared first on Cinema Scholars.
Introduction
When American Psycho premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000, it sharply divided audiences. Some praised it as a biting satire of Wall Street excess and late-1980s materialism. Others condemned the film as violent and misogynistic. Directed by Mary Harron and based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel, the film has since become a modern cult classic. A mix of horror, dark comedy, and social commentary that remains relevant twenty-five years later.
To mark the anniversary of this groundbreaking film, we present members of the cast and crew, including Harron, co-writer Guinevere Turner, star Christian Bale, and others, reflecting on the difficult road to bringing Ellis’s controversial novel to the screen. Cinema Scholars celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of American Psycho by presenting an Oral History of its conception, production, and release as told by the people who were there
Beginnings
When American Psycho was published in 1991, the novel’s notoriety was immediate. Its graphic violence, consumerist satire, and clinical tone sparked public outrage, boycotts, and even its temporary banning in several countries. For Hollywood, however, controversy often meant potential. Edward R. Pressman, a veteran independent producer known for films such as Badlands (1973) and Wall Street (1987), saw cinematic potential in Bret Easton Ellis’s most infamous creation.
American Psycho spent a decade in development limbo. Ellis’s first novel, Less Than Zero, had been adapted by 20th Century Fox in 1987. Despite strong performances from Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr., the film stripped away much of Ellis’s bleak tone and nihilism, leaving the author wary of Hollywood. In the early 1990s, director David Cronenberg, following the success of Naked Lunch (1991), was approached to develop the film. Brad Pitt was attached to star.
Producer Edward Pressman spoke with Yahoo Movies UK in 2020 about his introduction to American Psycho, as well as why it was important to have a female director helm the project:
“…I remember reading it, and I was in the Hollywood Hills [in 1992], and there were fires in Los Angeles right in front of my eyes. People looting, stealing TV sets. There was a race war going on. So when I read the book, I was feeling very impressionable…A lot of people hated the book. And without seeing the movie, they hated the movie too…I really thought the only way to take the curse off it, ideally, was to bring in a female director…”
Author Bret Easton Ellis spoke with Rolling Stone in 2016 about his early collaboration with director David Cronenberg, and the inability to find common ground:
“…I wrote the script in the early Nineties with a young actor attached named Brad Pitt. David was lovely – is lovely, I still like David – but he had strange demands…He hated shooting restaurant scenes, and he hated shooting nightclub scenes. And he didn’t want to shoot the violence. I ignored everything he said. So of course he was disappointed with it and he hired his own writer; that script was worse for him and he dropped out…”
The Script
By the mid-1990s, American Psycho had become one of the most infamous unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. The material was radioactive. Too violent for major studios, too expensive for independents, and too well-known to quietly disappear. That changed when Canadian-born filmmaker Mary Harron, then known for her punk documentary I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), joined the project and reimagined it from the ground up. Harron saw the satire in Ellis’s novel and wanted to create a send-up of the excess-filled ’80s.
To help translate that sensibility, Harron brought on Guinevere Turner, a writer and actress best known for her work on the groundbreaking independent film Go Fish (1994). The pair had already been working together on what would eventually become The Notorious Betty Paige (2005). Turner’s voice gave the adaptation a sharper feminist edge and a sardonic humor missing from earlier drafts. Both agreed that if done right, they could create a commercially successful movie with elements of horror and comedy.
Director Mary Harron spoke with IndieWire in 2000 about the unfair treatment the novel received, and how Harron and Turner’s script finally found the right balance of horror and humor:
“…The case with American Psycho was about the novel itself. I felt like it was very unfairly treated. I hoped there was a way to do it in which all the great things about it could become clearer, for example, the many hilarious things…I think it helped that it was a woman director. I think the script — not to blow my own trumpet — was the first one that really worked. Ed certainly says this. Because it did more of a satire than a violent horror movie…”
Writer Guinivere Turner spoke with Yahoo Movies in 2015 about the studio’s concern that Patrick Bateman wasn’t sympathetic enough, and whether he really did all those horrible things:
“…We were like, ‘Um, he’s a serial killer.’ And more importantly, he’s not a cool guy. He desperately wants to be cool and he’s just not, which is the most important layer…Everything was really happening. But at some point, we’re starting to see things through Patrick’s eyes…He’s losing his mind…and obviously the whole movie is a hyper-reality…”
Casting Patrick
By 1998, with a completed script, backing from Ed Pressman, Lions Gate, and a modest production budget, American Psycho finally seemed ready to move forward. What remained was finding its Patrick Bateman, the sleek, soulless Manhattan investment banker who hides a murderous void behind flawless tailoring and pop-music analysis. The search would become one of the most publicized and contentious casting sagas of the era. Initially offered to Billy Crudup, the actor left the project after six weeks, unable to grasp Bateman’s mindset.
Harron sent the script to British actor Christian Bale, who was filming Todd Haynes’ film Velvet Goldmine (1998). Bale was interested and flew to New York to audition. From moment one, Harron knew that Bale was the right man for the role. While actors who auditioned or were considered for the part (Ewan MacGreggor, Matt Damon, Edward Norton, and others) saw Bateman as ‘cool,’ Bale did not. Bale saw Bateman as an alien. Awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin. Trying to navigate through a strange and twisted world. People in the industry told Bale that taking on the role would be career suicide.
Actor Christian Bale spoke with GQ in 2022 about the process of becoming Patrick Bateman, bonding with director Mary Harron, as well as seeing the inherent humor in all of the insanity:
“…Any scene we were doing, every single day I had the book by my side. I would read through it every single time because Bret had so many wonderful descriptions and I think that was why Mary (Harron) and I clicked. Because when I first went and auditioned for her, I just went to her apartment and it was just her with a little camera. And I didn’t approach it like the other actors had…whats his childhood, whats the reason he’s become this. I was like none of that really matters. He’s just like this alien…”
Leonardo DiCaprio
In 1998, Lionsgate, eager for a bigger box-office draw, announced that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to star. Fresh off the global success of Titanic (1997), DiCaprio’s involvement promised major studio attention, but it also threw the production into turmoil. Widely considered to be the world’s biggest star at the time, Lionsgate was willing to pay the actor $20 million, while the rest of the film’s budget would remain at $6 million. At the Cannes Film Festival, Lionsgate announced that DiCaprio had been cast as Bateman.
While Pressman lobbied for Harron to stay on as director, she was fired after making it clear she would only direct with Bale in the lead. Additionally, DiCaprio sought a major director for the project. As a result, Oliver Stone was hired to direct and, after a read-through with DiCaprio, Leto, and Cameron Diaz, began to rewrite the original script.
Ultimately, DiCaprio dropped out after pressure from his management and objections from women’s advocacy groups. Stone soon followed suit. Bale had been so certain that DiCaprio would depart that he turned down other roles for nine months. Lionsgate, still hesitant to move forward with the largely unknown Bale, offered the role to Ben Affleck, Ewan McGregor, Ed Norton, and others. They all declined, and Lionsgate begrudgingly gave the part to Bale.
Director Mary Harron spoke with Vulture in 2020 about initially learning of Leonardo DiCaprio’s casting as Patrick Bateman and why she ultimately thought that he was wrong for the part:
“It was a phone call from one of the producers saying, “Are you sitting down? Leonardo DiCaprio wants to play the part and they want to pay him $20 million, but your budget will still only be $6 million.” And I said, “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.” I felt like he was really not right for it. And also to have a young star who was the idol of millions of teenage girls? You’re just bringing down hell upon yourselves, and you’ll never be able to make the script the way it should be made because everyone will be terrified”
Actor Christian Bale talked with Entertainment Weekly in 2022 about Leonardo DiCaprio getting offered leading roles before him and how he owes a debt of gratitude to the fellow thespian:
“…To this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand…Do you know how grateful I am to get any damn thing? I mean, I can’t do what he does, and he does it magnificently. But I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is…So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does, and good for him, he’s phenomenal…”
Filming
With casting finally locked in, American Psycho entered production in February 1999. Lasting seven weeks, principal photography primarily took place in Toronto, which doubled for Manhattan’s corporate and nightlife environments. Some exterior shots were filmed in New York City. Famed cinematographer Andrzej Sekuła (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) was behind the camera for Harron. The two argued frequently. Complicating matters, American companies were reluctant and had little interest in having their brand names associated with the controversial film. So, Harron and her team had to look towards Europe for product placement.
The production ultimately utilized French cosmetics, and most of the film’s clothing came from designers such as Cerruti and Vivienne Westwood, because American designers like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein wanted no part of American Psycho.
Aware of Elis’s controversial and homophobic novel, several anti-violence advocates lobbied Toronto City Hall to deny permission to film in Toronto. The groups also organized protests because of reports that Paul Bernardo, who committed serial murders and rapes in Toronto, owned a copy of the novel. However, this has never been confirmed, and some reports state that the book actually belonged to his wife, not him.
By all accounts, Bale went full “Method” during filming. He drew influence from numerous fictional and non-fictional characters. Among them are Donald Trump, Tom Cruise, and Nicolas Cage’s performance in 1989’s Vampire’s Kiss. He also alienated himself from Jared Leto (who plays frenemy Paul Allen) to create more on-camera tension. Haron and Bale even kept the grisly details of Allen’s murder a secret from Leto to illicit a greater look of on-camera surprise. Bale could even sweat on cue, as seen in the now iconic business card scene.
Actor Chloë Sevigny spoke with Vanity Fair in 2024 about the challenging and often intimidating process of working with Christian Bale and how the ‘Method’ approach affected her:
“…I was trying to respect his process, which I found challenging because I’m very gregarious and silly and goofy…I was really intimidated by his process and intimidated by him…I never had any formal training, I think I was just kind of ‘fake it until you make it.’ But the whole Method thing, I was like, What even is this approach? It was very intimidating…”
Actor Josh Lucas spoke with Vanity Fair in 2024 about how he thought Bale was a bad actor when they first started filming and how Bale was on a different level from the rest of the cast:
“I actually truly remember thinking that Christian Bale was terrible. I remember the first scene I did with him, I watched him, and he seemed so false, and I now realize that it was this just fucking brilliant choice that he was making. That was an actor who was at such a completely different level already, and he was capable of having these crazy layers going on in what he was doing. I thought it was bogus acting at the time, but it was exactly the opposite”
The Music
The soundtrack of American Psycho became one of the film’s defining elements. It blended glossy late-1980s pop with an unsettlingly sterile score. Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner considered the music essential not only for period authenticity but for expressing Patrick Bateman’s obsession with surface-level perfection. However, tracking down the rights to artists like Huey Lewis and the News, Genesis, and Whitney Houston would prove to be far more difficult than originally anticipated. Some artists resisted the association with the film’s violence.
Whitney Houston’s team reportedly denied permission outright, forcing the production to reference her lyrics without using the actual recording. An orchestral version of ‘The Greatest Love of All’ was used instead of Houston’s actual version. Others, like Phil Collins and Genesis, approved their music once reassured that the film’s tone was satirical rather than celebratory.
Composer and Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale had worked with Harron previously on I Shot Andy Warhol. Brought on to score the film, he created a chilling and minimalist score to counter the over-the-top pop song sheen that littered the film’s soundtrack. The contrast between bright pop songs and Cale’s eerie cues helped reinforce the film’s themes: materialism, image obsession, and the hollowness at the center of Bateman’s carefully curated life.
Composer John Cale spoke with The Austin Chronicle in 2000 about the sound design used during the making of American Psycho and what they could and couldn’t get away with:
“I remember having a discussion with Mary about how horrendous she wanted this scene to be. There were actually animal noises that would really fit into this. I said, “Well you know, the FBI in Waco used rabbits squealing” [as part of their aural campaign to drive out the Branch Davidians]. And I said, “Would you like me to go and see if I could get that?” And they said, “Yeah, we could look into that.” And the other guy, the editor, was there, and he said, “I really don’t think you’re going to be able to get it because the whole thing is under judicial review, and it’s probably locked in the vault.” But somebody sat around and made these horrendous tapes.”
Director Mary Harron spoke with Little White Lies in 2020 about the importance of mainstream pop music setting the right tone for the film and how the happier the song, the better:
“It was really hard to get the rights for the music because we couldn’t find anything that worked as well as the music mentioned in the book. It had to be glossy, mainstream pop. The more happy the music was, the better it worked. ‘Walking on Sunshine’ worked really well when Bateman is walking into his office. It had to be American and it had to be upbeat. I remember Christian saying, ’I think I’m going to Moonwalk'”
Release and Reception
American Psycho premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000. From the start, reactions were mixed. Many in the audience reportedly sat in stunned silence, uncertain whether to laugh or recoil. The film was submitted to the MPAA and initially received an NC-17 rating because of a sex scene involving Bateman and two prostitutes. The producers trimmed about 18 seconds, and the film was re-rated R to allow for theatrical distribution.
Marketing the film proved difficult. Distributors weren’t sure how to pitch a movie that mixed graphic violence, satire, and social commentary. Early attempts included provocative stunts. Fans could sign up to receive “e-mails from Patrick Bateman,” supposedly addressed to his therapist, a viral campaign that Bale was not happy about. Another promotional tactic was a fake “stock market game” where users invested imaginary Hollywood money in films, actors, or musicians.
When American Psycho opened theatrically in April 2000, reviews remained polarized. Some critics praised its sharp satire and Bale’s performance. Others balked at its violence or found the tone confusing. Among the approving voices, famed critic Roger Ebert awarded it three out of four stars. Ultimately, the film grossed around $34 million on a modest $7 million budget. The initial confusion, controversy, and unconventional marketing only deepened the film’s mystique, setting the stage for its rise to cult classic in the years to come.
Actor Christian Bale spoke with The Toronto Star in 2000 about the marketing campaign for American Psycho and how the actor objected to the way in which it was handled:
“My main objection is that some people think it will be me returning those e-mails. I don’t like that…I think the movie stands on its own merits and should attract an audience that can appreciate intelligent satire. It’s not a slasher flick, but it’s also not American Pie. The marketing should reflect that”
Legacy
Despite its often disturbing subject matter, American Psycho remains one of the most discussed films of the early 2000s. A captivating and thought-provoking film, Christian Bale’s career-defining performance as Patrick Bateman makes it a must-watch. The film is now frequently taught in film and gender studies courses as a textbook example of satire’s power to critique an era’s values. Twenty-five years after its debut, it has transitioned from a controversial release to a widely recognized landmark film.
Propelled by the advent of meme and GIF culture, the film’s imagery, themes, and performances have entered the broader pop-culture zeitgeist, giving it a lasting presence far beyond its rocky debut. A new adaptation of American Psycho is currently in development with director Luca Guadagnino and Austin Butler attached. Both will have big shoes to fill.
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The post AMERICAN PSYCHO: A 25th Anniversary Oral History appeared first on Cinema Scholars.
