We know there's a hot English actor under there somewhere, but Christian Bale is losing his mojo with his recent weight gain!

It's all part of the job, though, as Bale is prepping for his role as former US Vice President Dick Cheney in an upcoming biography of President George W. Bush's wing man. The film is set to start shooting in September and frankly, make up artists have their work cut out for them because Bale's just too good looking!

The film will co-star Steve Carell as former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Amy Adams as Cheney's wife Lynne. Brad Pitt's Plan B is co-producing with Will Farrell and the group that produced The Big Short, which got five Oscar noms ... so you can see what they're going for here. The Academy looooves actors who put on weight for their roles, too, so Bale could be looking at Oscar gold if all goes well!