Christian Bale

A reluctant movie megastar, this Wales-born actor got his big break at age 13 when he landed the role of a spoiled British boy who comes of age in a World War II internment camp in 1987's Empire of the Sun. His transformative performance was a harbinger of his chameleonlike work to come. However, Bale temporarily backed off from acting because he was uncomfortable with his newfound fame. In the '90s Bale reemerged with impressive supporting performances in a series of dramatic films (Little Women, The Portrait of a Lady), but 2000's American Psycho was the movie that put him back on the Hollywood map. Bale became a cult heartthrob thanks in part to his disarming smile and newly chiseled physique. The buff actor spent the next few years reinventing himself and his body for every role, losing a shocking amount of weight to play an insomniac in 2004's The Machinist before bulking back up the next year to take on the title role in the blockbuster Batman Begins. Despite his A-list status, Bale continues to defy convention by signing on to edgy, independent films and keeping his off-screen life with his wife and child — gasp — private.