Christian Bale makes unusual comparison between Frankenstein and Punch the monkey

Christian Bale, Frankenstein, and Punch the monkey together in one sentence is something I certainly never thought I'd write, but here we are.

The 52-year-old English actor has gone viral for comparing Mary Shelley's gothic creature to the internet's favourite zoo animal in a new interview.

His bizarre comparison came during a recent interview with Buzzfeed to promote his new movie The Bride!, which is hitting cinemas in the UK on Friday (6 March).

The American Gothic romance film, which has been written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, stars Bale as the monster in question and Jessie Buckley as, you guessed it, his bride.

The movie's description reads: "In 1930s Chicago, groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious brings a murdered young woman back to life to be a companion for Frankenstein's monster.

"What happens next is beyond what either of them could ever have imagined."

One of the film's key themes is loneliness, which is where the unexpected comparison comes in, to Punch, the monkey.

Christian Bale just gave a shoutout to Punch, the monkey (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

For those who somehow haven't stumbled across a video of Punch yet, he's a six-month-old baby Japanese macaque who resides in Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan - and the internet is obsessed with him.

His story has pulled on the heartstrings of literally everyone after he was rejected by his mother shortly after birth in July last year, and clips of him being pushed around by other monkeys have circulated online.

Punch was hand-reared by the zoo until he joined the monkey enclosure in January, and was given a stuffed toy orangutan, which he takes everywhere with him and uses as a source of comfort.

And as we say, Bale thinks the little primate's story isn't too dissimilar to that of Frankenstein's monster.

In the interview, the actor explained: "Frank is the personification of loneliness and regret. He's somebody who was a manchild, who didn't understand, who committed these crimes. He's mortified by them and feels it's just better to remove himself from life and from people."

He added, "He needs to have a companion, even if it's someone who just sits next to him and never speaks. He just needs someone.

"You know, like a poor little monkey who's kept in a lab by himself."

The baby Japanese macaque has won the hearts of people around the world (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Bale pondered for a moment before declaring, "Little Punch with the orangutan. Little Punch, you can do it! And the orangutan. So that's all he needs.

"That's what Frank's thinking. I just kind of need an orangutan that I can sit and hug with."

I mean, it does make sense, kind of?

Bale's comments have quickly garnered views on social media, with one X user writing: "Christian Bale talking about Punch the monkey wasn't on my list."

While a second joked, "This is the most animated I’ve ever seen him in an interview!"

A third agreed: "We all love and are rooting for Punch, even Frankenstein."

And a fourth chimed in with: "HAHAHA the Punch reference, I love that he knows."

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