Christain Bale vs Leo DiCaprio

who is the better actor?
who is more versatile?
Who can carry a movie better?
whose shown more range?
Who can play antagonist and protagonist better?
Who has a better body of work?

Leo to me has the better filmography but I think Bale is the better actor.

who is the better actor? Leo DiCaprio (personal bias)
who is more versatile? Tough choice, as both are pretty versatile...tie
Who can carry a movie better? Leo DiCaprio
whose shown more range? Christian Bale
Who can play antagonist and protagonist better? Christian Bale
Who has a better body of work? Leo DiCaprio


So for me, Leo wins 4-2. That's not to knock Christian Bale, however, as he is also a very strong and moving actor, who's proven that he's not just a tough tortured character (Batman and American Psycho), but can also be subtle and emotional (The Fighter and The Prestige). If Bale were to be less picky in his movie roles, he'd earn more points. Otherwise, Leo has just had great versatility with better movies, and can prove that he's worthy of praise. Bale may have an Oscar and Leo doesn't (yet), but I never use that as a proving point for who's better than who.

Leo is the bigger draw consistently. Bale is the better actor, takes more difficult and ambitious roles. Bale as Dickey Ecklund to me is one of the best roles ever. People will look back and say Heath Ledger had the role of the 2000's as the Joker, but I think Bale takes the cake.

The problem I have with Leo is that I know I know it's the actor playing the role in every move. I don't know if it's because of his voice, or because he's been in gigantic movies like Titanic, but he's not like a Gary Oldman where I completely forget it's the actor playing the role.

That's my concern with Leo. His face and his voice haven't changed much since we first saw him in the film world. Not that it's a bad thing, but it doesn't make for a convincing character at times. Bale, on the other hand, blew me away with Batman and especially The Fighter. For the latter, I knew going in that it was Christian Bale, but the more I watched, the more I saw him transform into Dicky Ecklund. That says a lot about Bale's acting power.

who is the better actor? Leo
who is more versatile? TIE
Who can carry a movie better? Leo
whose shown more range? TIE
Who can play antagonist and protagonist better? Leo
Who has a better body of work? Leo

I'm more of a Leo fan, not that I don't like Christain Bale, but I find myself more appealed to the films DiCaprio stars in. And I don't think it's just because of him, but I really like mostly all of the movies he's in and if Christain Bale had starred in place of Leos roles in those movies, I'd have chosed Bale over him in the Answers to the Questions.

So all in all, I'd say I like them equally.

who is the better actor? - Christian Bale
who is more versatile? - Leonardo Di Caprio (Close Call)
Who can carry a movie better? - Leonardo Di Caprio
whose shown more range? - Christian Bale
Who can play antagonist and protagonist better? - Christian Bale
Who has a better body of work? - Christian Bale

Christian Bale 3 - 2 Leonardo Di Caprio

Christian Bale better than DiCaprio