Christian Bale's wife and director David O'Russell pushed him to star in American Hustle as he was initially unsure that he would be able to do it.
The Dark Knight star is known for being a perfectionist and told Variety that he wasn't sure if he would have the time to prepare for the role in the crime drama properly as well as a role in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups.
"With Hustle I needed a lot of time to prepare and just didn't think I could do it properly. And I would come home to post-it notes on my door from David saying, 'Come on, let's do this'.
"Without telling me, my wife called them both and said, 'Yeah, he can do it'. Look, I'm always trying to back out because I'm always convinced I won't be able to do it. But thank God I did."
O'Russell also directed Bale in The Fighter which led him to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year.
American Hustle is set for release in January 2014 and also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner.
