The cast of 'American Psycho': Where are they now? (original) (raw)

American Psycho, Mary Harron's 2000 movie adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial 1991 novel — which the author once deemed essentially unfilmable — stars Christian Bale as '80s investment banker, facial mask and business card enthusiast, and (possible) psychopath Patrick Bateman alongside a deep bench of a cast that has also gone on to plenty of big things.

When he's not ruminating over the recorded output of Phil Collins or Huey Lewis, Bateman is jockeying for influence with his fellow investment bankers, a group that includes Jared Leto as Paul Allen, Justin Theroux as Timothy Bryce, Josh Lucas as Craig McDermott, Matt Ross as Luis Carruthers, and Bill Sage as David Van Patten. And when Allen appears with a business card superior to his own, well, Bateman soon exacts his revenge (or so we're led to believe) in one of the film's most memorable, hilarious, and harrowing scenes.

Things devolve from there, with Bateman keeping up appearances while he (maybe) tortures and kills numerous people. Willem Dafoe pops up as a private investigator looking into Allen's disappearance; Samantha Mathis plays Courtney, Carruthers' fiancée who's also sleeping with Bateman; Reese Witherspoon is Evelyn, Bateman's own fiancée whom he's completely indifferent to; and Chloë Sevigny is Jean, Bateman's loyal secretary who discovers his notebook with graphic descriptions of murdering and mutilating. In tandem with the violence escalating, Bateman's sanity slips — but maybe he wasn't really sane to begin with. As the film unfolds, it becomes a question of what's true and what's relative when the world around Bateman is a sanitized 1980s blur of greed and perversion.

Seeing as it's been decades since the release of the film, which has lived on through a cult following and internet memes, it's high time to see what's been up with the cast that brought American Psycho to life. Let's crank up "Sussudio," snack on some sea urchin ceviche, and read on.

Christian Bale (Patrick Bateman)

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In 2000, Christian Bale was not the A-lister he is today. As he was more well-known for his child and teenage roles in Empire of the Sun (1987), Newsies (1992), and Swing Kids (1993), American Psycho director and co-writer Harron had to fight to get him cast as Patrick Bateman, especially since the studio execs wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role. Bale followed up American Psycho with the apocalyptic dragon-filled epic Reign of Fire(2002), then dropped a startling amount of weight for 2004's The Machinist. Soon after, though, Bale bulked back up as Christopher Nolan came calling with Batman Begins(2005), which was followed by leading roles in Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn (2006) and the underrated remake of Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007) alongside Russell Crowe.

After reprising the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2008's critically acclaimed box office smash The Dark Knight, then taking on the role of John Connor in 2009's Terminator Salvation (which he became infamous for in the ensuing years), Bale eventually went on to win the Academy Award in 2011 for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as boxer/trainer Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010). A year later, he returned to don the Batsuit one last time for The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and soon after, received additional Oscar nods for his work in American Hustle (2013) and The Big Short (2015). In 2018, Bale showed his penchant for dramatic physical transformation yet again, as he re-teamed with Big Short director Adam McKay to play former Vice President Dick Cheney in the well-received Vice, for which he won a Golden Globe. In 2019, though, he said he will no longer undergo weight changes for movie roles.

The actor returned to the comic book world, making his debut in the MCU and earning strong notices as the villain Gorr the God Butcher in 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder. He also appeared in David O. Russell's Amsterdam and Scott Cooper's The Pale Blue Eye that same year_._

Willem Dafoe (Donald Kimball)

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By the time he appeared in American Psycho, Willem Dafoe had already acted in a wide range of films and scored an Academy Award nomination — so what did he do afterward? He followed up American Psycho by transforming into Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), for which he earned yet another Oscar nomination (this time for Best Supporting Actor).

Dafoe has gone on to play the supervillain Green Goblin in 2002's Spider-Man and its respective sequels; collaborate with directors Lars von Trier and Wes Anderson on numerous occasions; and make a disparate group of independent films, often displaying his knack for glowering villainy combined with quiet sensitivity. He reteamed with Christian Bale for 2013's Out of the Furnace, and appeared alongside Keanu Reeves in the 2014 action thriller John Wick.

In 2020, the New York Times ranked him at number 18 on its list of the "25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far)." His storied career also includes voicing animated characters (Gill in 2003's Finding Nemo and 2016's Finding Dory, for instance); voiceover work for national advertisements; serving as a member of the main competition jury at the Cannes Film Festival; earning additional Academy Award nominations for his work in The Florida Project (2017) and as Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018); and — how's this for range? — playing underwater scientist Nuidis Vulko in Aquaman (2018) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). After reprising his role of Norman Osborne/Green Goblin in the MCU's Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Dafoe also appeared in Nightmare Alley (2021) and The Northman (2022), and made his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live in January 2022.

Jared Leto (Paul Allen)

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What can you say about Jared Leto? After his performance as Paul Allen in American Psycho, the actor dropped a significant amount of weight to play a character with a heroin addiction in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000); grew in culturally appropriated cornrows for David Fincher's Panic Room (2002); and then focused increasingly on his rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, which released a couple of platinum sellers in the mid-2000s. By 2013, it was back to acting, and his performance as a transgender woman living with drug addiction in Dallas Buyers Club earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

While continuing to record and perform with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto soon ended up playing the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad, a role that felt made for him, and a year later, played another villain in Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. By 2021, the divisive actor was playing a serial killer in The Little Things and Italian fashion designer Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott's biographical drama House of Gucci. In 2022, Jared Leto appeared alongside Anne Hathaway on the small screen in WeCrashed, an eight-episode drama for Apple TV+ about the rise and fall of the co-working operation WeWork.

Reese Witherspoon (Evelyn Williams)

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Reese Witherspoon was a former child and teen actress coming off widespread acclaim for her role as Tracy Flick in the dark comedy Election (1999) when she took on a supporting turn in American Psycho as Patrick Bateman's fiancée. But just a year later, everything changed for Witherspoon's career with the smashing success of the comedy Legally Blonde (2001), in which she starred as the ebullient Elle Woods. She successfully navigated rom-com land for 2002's Sweet Home Alabama (which also featured her American Psycho costar Josh Lucas), and reappeared as Elle in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

In 2005, Witherspoon played June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, James Mangold's Johnny Cash biopic, for which she sang on camera for the first time and earned a Best Actress Oscar. She soon voiced the lead character in the animated hit Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) — a little foreshadowing for her later success as Rosita in Sing(2016) — and then embarked on a drift through more films built around romances and love triangles, most of which weren't as successful. In 2012, Witherspoon founded the production company Pacific Standard, later renamed Hello Sunshine; in 2017, she co-produced and starred in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Big Little Lies, which was renewed for a second season and released in 2019. Witherspoon also produces and stars on The Morning Show for Apple TV+.

So what's next for the actress? Why, the return of Elle Woods, of course, in Legally Blonde 3, with a script written by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor. And if that's not enough, she's also reprising her role as Tracy Flick in Paramount+'s Election sequel, Tracy Flick Can't Win, which will be written by the 1999 film's director and co-writer, Alexander Payne.

Josh Lucas (Craig McDermott)

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Josh Lucas followed up American Psycho with appearing alongside Russell Crowe in 2001's A Beautiful Mind and playing a handsome guy role in the 2002 Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. He was also in Ang Lee's 2003 film The Hulk, and, by 2006, was appearing in the uplifting period basketball film Glory Road, a role for which he gained considerable weight.

Lucas costarred with Matthew McConaughey in 2011's The Lincoln Lawyer, and that same year played Charles Lindbergh in Clint Eastwood's biopic J. Edgar. After starring in one season of a TV adaptation of John Grisham's The Firm, Lucas joined the cast of The Mysteries of Laura, and later appeared on Yellowstone as the younger version of Kevin Costner's John Dutton. Lucas is also a frequent voice actor, and for many years has done advertising voice over work for the Home Depot.

Justin Theroux (Timothy Bryce)

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"You ain't seen nothin' yet. Raised lettering, pale nimbus. White." Whether flaunting his latest business card design or doing drugs in a bathroom stall — "I want to get high off this, not sprinkle it on my f---ing oatmeal" — Justin Theroux makes investment baker Timothy Bryce the picture of brash 1980s yuppie excess. Theroux went on to two notable 2001 performances — one as a film director in David Lynch's dark and dreamy noir Mulholland Drive, and remember the evil DJ spinning Frankie Goes to Hollywood in Zoolander? Yes, that's him.

Theroux later appeared in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Michael Mann's movie reboot of Miami Vice, and the 2007 dramedy Broken English. The actor turned to screenwriting in 2008, collaborating with Ben Stiller on the script for Tropic Thunder, and, in 2010, he wrote Iron Man 2. He also starred in David Gordon Green's stoner comedy Your Highness (2011) and the David Wain film Wanderlust (2012). In subsequent years, Theroux frequented the small screen, starring on the acclaimed HBO series The Leftovers; costarring in Maniac on Netflix; taking a lead role on the Apple TV+ adaptation of The Mosquito Coast; and scoring a main role in White House Plumbers.

Chloë Sevigny (Jean)

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Chloë Sevigny's supporting turn in American Psycho came on the heels of her Oscar-nominated work in 1999's Boys Don't Cry, which itself was the culmination of a decade that found her rising to prominence as a fashion model and actor in independent films. Sevigny continued to access the world of fashion, collaborating with her friend Tara Subkoff for the conceptual fashion imprint Imitation of Christ, and she also worked with notable directors including Olivier Assayas (2002's Demonlover), Lars von Trier (2003's Dogville), and Werner Herzog (2009's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done). In 2003, Sevigny's work in the Vincent Gallo film The Brown Bunny sparked controversy when she was seen to perform fellatio on screen.

In 2006, she began a five-season run on HBO's Big Love, which also featured her American Psycho costar Matt Ross. Sevigny received a Best Actress Golden Globe for her work on the series. Elsewhere on television, she's been seen on Will & Grace, Those Who Kill, American Horror Story, Portlandia, The Mindy Project, Russian Doll, and The Girl From Plainville. Sevigny still works on the big screen, with appearances in Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die (2019) and Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All (2022).

Samantha Mathis (Courtney Rawlinson)

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Samantha Mathis, who played Courtney in American Psycho, the fiancée of Luis Carruthers and paramour of Patrick Bateman, followed up that supporting role with the splashy TNT miniseries The Mists of Avalon, and stayed on the TV side of things for 2004's Salem's Lot and appearances on various versions of Law & Order. Mathis costarred in The Punisher (2004) alongside Thomas Jane; returned to television for roles on House, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy; and joined the cast of FX horror drama The Strain in 2015. That same year, Mathis became the National Vice President of SAG-AFTRA and was re-elected in 2017. Later, Mathis was featured in a recurring role on the Showtime hit Billions.