Christian Bale and his incredibly ripped arms pushed a baby carriage through the New Orleans airport on Saturday. He’s in town to shoot The Big Short. At first I didn’t recognize him at all! Bale’s hair has grown a lot since the disastrous Exodus promotional tour, and he put on a lot of muscle very quickly. This is one of Bale’s very favorite things to do — gain or lose weight in between movie shoots. He snaps when people comment on his weight fluctuations, but Bale willingly transforms his body for movies all the time. The look is much more preferable than his dangerously skinny bod of yesteryear. Are you impressed with Bale’s new guns? I’d hit it.

Here’s the strange thing — Bale doesn’t need to be ripped at all for The Big Short. The movie, which will co-star Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, and Ryan Gosling, arrives with the following synopsis: “The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.” The story comes from the book of the same name. Bale plays Dr. Michael Burry, a former neurologist and hedge-fund mastermind who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome. Vanity Fair published an engrossing profile of Burry in 2010 – you can see a photo of him at the link. He’s an attractive guy but not the buff type. Up next, Bale plays a detective in The Deep Blue Good-By, which doesn’t sound like a muscly role either. So what’s up with the new weightlifting routine, Bale?

What’s even more confusing are the first set photos from The Big Short. The stylists covered up Bale’s muscles, made him wear an awful, short wig, and piled on the orange makeup. The results are … not good.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News & Fame/Flynet