Will Oscar Go Psycho Over Bale?

Christian Bale's dark and twisted turn as murdering Wall Street yuppie Patrick Bateman in American Psycho was praised by film critics as a star-making performance, and led to talk of a possible Oscar nomination. But the Little Women actor admits that he holds out little hope that the Academy will recognize the sexy satire when nominations are announced in February.

"I think American Psycho might be pushing it a little too far for the [Academy]," Bale tells TV Guide Online. "But I haven't put a lot of thought into it... I'd be surprised, but obviously I would be happy."

Well, Oscar voters who missed American Psycho during its brief theatrical run earlier this year are in luck: The film is released on VHS and DVD today. What's more, the unrated version will feature the controversial three-way escapade between Bale's character and two prostitutes that director Mary Harron shortened to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating.

But one of Psycho's most shocking elements remains Bale's physical transformaion, including a new buff physique and a near-perfect set of pearly-whites. When it came to making over the latter, the actor was fitted with some heavy-duty braces that, he admits, were extremely uncomfortable. "I took the plunge and had them totally done for the part," he says. "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."

Currently, Bale is in Germany for his latest film, Librium, co-starring Taye Diggs and his Metroland leading lady, Emily Watson. Prior to that, he was stranded on Kefallonia Island in Greece filming Captain Corelli's Mandolin opposite Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz and John Hurt.

"I've basically been on a little island in the middle of the Mediterranean for four months making a movie, out of contact with everybody," he explains. "I'm a little bit in the dark." Which means he was unable to catch a little American TV show with a similar castaway theme. But Bale still got in the Survivor spirit by revealing the one luxury item he wished he had brought with him. Confides the thesp: "I longed for my Sony PlayStation."