Christian Bale: I like confusing people with my British accent

We're less than a month in and 2019 is already shaping up pretty well for Christian Bale.

The Hollywood actor has a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice award under his belt and is tipped for BAFTA and Oscars glory, too.

His success with Vice, in which he plays former US vice president Dick Cheney, comes after a host of previous awards for his roles in films such as The Fighter, The Big Short, American Hustle and The Dark Knight Batman trilogy.

And with each win, each acceptance speech, it seems there are some viewers who are always shocked to find out Bale is actually British.

After making his name playing American characters, his real accent often throws people.

Following this year's Golden Globe win for Vice (for which he is also BAFTA and Oscar nominated), his speech was met with the same surprise once again.

Fans on Twitter said they expected to hear an American accent rather than that of a "cockney chimney sweep".

Bale, who was born in Wales, says he deliberately tried to convince people he was American because it was difficult securing acting work in the UK when he started out, and that he is pleased he does such a convincing job.

As a young actor, he says he "couldn't get any work in England, I don't know what it was about me but nobody would bloody hire me".

Bale said that while he could get jobs in the US, it was, "always in a sort of billowing sleeve and vest period thing with floppy hair and stuff".

He added: "Great, but that's not what I wanted to do for my whole life. But that was all that kept coming my way, but it was work, and in England it was no work.

"And so I said I've really got to just be able to convince people I'm American."

Bale said he had spoken with an American accent during various interviews in the past in order to keep up the act.

People not knowing much about him is "the ideal as an actor", he said, before adding: "So it was lovely to see them getting surprised by that."

Bale, who was born in Pembrokeshire, said: "But what was interesting was a lot of them got it very wrong and they go, 'listen to his Welsh accent'.

"Yes, I was born in Wales but I don't think I've got any ring of Welsh in my accent at all."

Bale also spoke about Donald Trump, saying he is a "clown" who does not understand how government works.

He discussed the differences between the current US president and Mr Cheney, who was an instrumental figure in the country's foreign policy decisions after 9/11, saying he thinks Mr Trump is the less dangerous of the two.

"[Trump is] bombastic, he's loud. Cheney was quiet and secretive and far more capable, far more brilliant.

"In terms of their ability to understand government, there's no comparison. Trump doesn't understand it, Cheney did - that's what made him so powerful, these decades within the government.

"Whereas Trump is sort of a clown by comparison. Clowns can do a lot of damage but fingers crossed in the next two years that doesn't happen."