Raised in Oxfordshire and Dorset in England and in Portugal and California

Acting debut in an commercial for Pac-Man cereal

Made London stage debut in a West End production of the Larry Shue comedy, "The Nerd," starring Rowan Atkinson

Appeared on several British TV commercials

TV debut as a spoiled brat in the BBC miniseries, "The Heart of the Country"

American TV debut as Alexis in the two-part NBC movie, "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna"

Feature film debut, "Mio, min Mio/The Land of Faraway," a children's fantasy co-produced by USSR, Norway and Sweden; not released in USA until after "Empire of the Sun"

First starring role in a US feature, the Steven Spielberg directed "Empire of the Sun"

Played Jim Hawkins in the TNT movie "Treasure Island"

Made screen singing debut in the Disney musical "Newsies"

Portrayed Laurie opposite Wynona Ryder's Jo March in Gillian Armstrong's remake of "Little Women"; role revitalized career

Provided the voice of Thomas in Disney's animated "Pocahontas"

Announced as the lead in the film version of "American Psycho" to be directed by Mary Harron; dropped when Lions Gate took on project and Leonardo DiCaprio was sought for the role; when DiCaprio opted to star in "The Beach," Bale and Harron rejoined the project

Had first adult lead as Emily Watson's husband in "Metroland" (released in the USA in 1999)

Played the lead in Todd Haynes' tribute to glam rock, "Velvet Goldmine"

Played Demetrius in Michael Hoffman's all-star remake of "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Cast as Jesus in the NBC movie "Mary, Mother of Jesus"

Portrayed Wall Street executive/serial killer, Patrick Bateman in the screen adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' "American Psycho"

Played a villain in John Singleton's "Shaft"

Cast as one leg of a romantic triangle in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," co-starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz

Reunited with Emily Watson in the futuristic thriller "Equilibrium"

Co-starred with Matthew McConaughey in "Reign of Fire"

Starred opposite Frances McDormand in "Laurel Canyon"

Played a haunted insomniac factory worker in "The Machinist"

Teamed with director Christopher Nolan to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in "Batman Begins"

Portrayed English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Terrence Malick's "The New World"

Portrayed a Victorian stage magician in "The Prestige"; reunited with Michael Caine and director Christopher Nolan

Cast as an ex-Army Ranger recently discharged from the military in David Ayer's directorial debut, "Harsh Times"

Co-starred with Russell Crowe in "3:10 to Yuma," a Western directed by James Mangold

Portrayed Dylan at one distinct stage of his life, in Todd Haynes' film, "I'm Not There"

Reprised role of Batman for the second installment of the 'Batman' series, "The Dark Knight"; again directed by Christopher Nolan

Played John Connor in "Terminator Salvation," the fourth film in the Terminator series directed by McG

Portrayed FBI agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's 1930s gangland flick "Public Enemies"