Christian Bale in 'Empire of the Sun' (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures/Mptvimages.com)
As "The Dark Knight Rises" started gaining momentum at the box office over the summer, we thought it fitting to take a look back at how Christian Bale first broke into the industry. We now know him as Batman and also as the actor who went to Aurora, Colorado, to pay his respects to the victims of the deadly July 20 mass movie theater shooting. But when Bale was just around 13-years-old, he was the star of the Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun."
[Related: Christian Bale’s first major film role: ‘Empire of the Sun’]