Bale gave the shout-out to the ruler of darkness in his acceptance speech after winning best actor in a comedy or musical for “Vice”.
“Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration for playing this role,” he said about his character of Dick Cheney in the political satire.
The line got a positive response for the Church of Satan itself, which wrote on Twitter, “To us, Satan is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, and it serves as an external metaphorical projection of our highest personal potential. As Mr. Bale’s own talent and skill won him the award, this is fitting. Hail Christian! Hail Satan!”
Bale, who scored his second Golden Globe, first thanked his children and wife, “who told me less is more.”
“She knows the dumb crap that can come out of my mouth at times. I can sink and ruin a perfectly good movie and so-so career in one speech. So thank you for that advice, my love.”
He joked that director Adam McKay chose him for the gig because of his resemblance to former vice president Cheney.
“He said, ‘I have to find somebody that can be absolutely charisma free and reviled by everybody, so we wanted Christian Bale.’”
Bale teased that the next political figure he’ll take on is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Despite his criticism of Cheney Sunday, Bale previously praised the former vice president for his commitment to his loved ones and his love of learning.
“He was a wonderful family man — he’s a great dad, he’s an avid reader, he has a brain like a vice and he constantly reads history,” the actor said in an interview with Fox News last month. ”He was very laid-back. He would have been very happy to be a lineman in Wyoming if he hadn’t met Lynne, who said to him, ‘No, that doesn’t cut it. You need some ambition.’ What would have been if they hadn’t met?”
Bale gained 60 pounds for the part of Cheney and seemingly disappeared into the role of the resilient and ruthlessly ambitious politician. The movie, a biopic based more on rumors than fact, has struggled at the box office.
