- Was so determined to beef up to play Batman in BATMAN BEGINS just six weeks after playing an emaciated machine operator in THE MACHINIST he made himself sick by gorging on pizza and ice-cream. (2004)
- Doesn't eat red meat.
- A devoted animal lover, Christian has two dogs (Mojo and Ramone) and three cats (Miriam, Molly, and Lilly), which are all strays that he found.
- Was handpicked by Winona Ryder for the coveted role of Laurie (Theodore Laurence) in LITTLE WOMEN.
- Hand-picked by director/writer Mary Harron and author Bret Easton Ellis to star in AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000). Was noted by the media as the first star of AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000), only to lose the part to Leonardo DiCaprio, and then win it back again.
- He has an uncanny ear for accents - he has used a different accent for each of his films to date.
- He is an excellent horseman and an avid reader.
- He trained for 10 weeks in dancing and martial arts for the dance sequences in Newsies and Swing Kids.
- Since reading Charlotte's Web, Christian does not eat red meat.
- On location in Prague in near freezing weather, he was visited by Steven Spielberg (director of his feature film debut EMPIRE OF THE SUN, 1987) to play in SWING KIDS (1993). Spielberg was also in Prague filming SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993).
- Over his shoulder in one of the close-up shots during the last scene of AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000), when Patrick is having drinks with his friends, one can see a plaque above a door that reads: This is not an exit. That phrase appears as the last line of the book the movie is based on.
- Filming THE MACHINIST in Spain. (August 2003)
- Is active in many organizations, including Ark Trust, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Foundation, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Redwings Sanctuary, and the Happy Child Mission, and a school for street kids in Rio de Janeiro.
- His grandfather doubled for John Wayne in two movies in Africa.
- His first on-screen role was in 1983 at age 9 in a British commercial for Pac-Man Cereal.
- Was raised in England, Portugal and California.
Quotes- "An actor should never be larger than the film he's in." (Spin, March 96)
- "I don't want to know about the lives of other actors and I don't want people to know too much about me. If we don't know about the private lives of other actors, that leaves us as clean slates when it comes to playing characters. That's the point, they can create these other characters and I can believe them. I think if you're a good enough actor, that's the way to longevity in the film business. Keep everybody guessing."
- "It was horrific. I was almost crying in interviews and running away during press conferences, pretending I was going to the bathroom and just disappearing." - on dealing with the resulting media attention of Empire of the Sun at age 13.
- "I enjoyed making the film, but I was shocked when I received all the attention when I got home to Bournemouth. Girls were all over me, boys wanted to fight me and I was being asked to open local fetes when all I wanted to do was ride my BMX bike in the woods. I told my parents I wasn't interested in doing anything again because the attention ruined it." - on the sudden fame that resulted after Empire of the Sun
- "I'm English. Our dentistry is not world famous, but I made sure I got moldings of my old teeth beforehand because I miss them." [on getting braces]
- "I started my career without fans."
- On his Internet fans: "It gives me a sort of smug smile that there are people who very thoroughly appreciate my work and talk about it. Some people would think it's creepy, but it doesn't enter into my daily life."
Awards- National Board of Review: Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor, EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987)
- Young Artist Award: Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1989)
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