Christian Bale has been dedicated and disciplined in controlling his weight for film roles, famously losing 65 pounds and eating only an apple and a can of tuna a day for The Machinist, bulking up his muscle mass for American Psycho and the Dark Knight films, and sporting a pot belly in American Hustle.

The actor looks almost unrecognisable at the moment, as he gains weight to play Vice President Dick Cheney upcoming biopic Backseat.

Asked about how he'd done it at Toronto International Film Festival this week, he smiled: "I've just been eating a lot of pies."

Bale in 2004's The Machinist

Bale in 1999's American Psycho

Bale at TIFF 2017 (Photo: Getty)

(Photo: Getty)

Dick Cheney with George W. Bush in 2006 (Photo: Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Bale was not an obvious casting choice for Cheney in terms of appearance, but nor was Steve Carell as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The pair will reunite with The Big Short director Adam McKay for the film (who also wrote the screenplay), joined by Bale's American Hustle co-star Amy Adams (Lynne Cheney), Sam Rockwell (George W. Bush) and Bill Pullman (Nelson Rockefeller).

Cheney served as Bush's VP between 2001 and 2009 and was a key player in US foreign policy during that time, particularly with regards to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is regarded by many as the most powerful VP in US history.

He is probably best remembered, however - at least in pop cultural terms - for accidentally shooting a lawyer during a quail hunt in 2006.

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