American Psycho casting director thinks Austin Butler who will appear as the lead in reboot film, is better suited to play Paul Allen — Here’s why

Casting director for the 2000 film American Psycho, Kerry Barden, said he sees Austin Butler as Paul Allen, a rival to the lead character Patrick Bateman than Bateman himself. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barden discussed recent news surrounding filmmaker Luca Guadagnino's screen adaptation of the classic Bret Easton Ellis novel.

The OG 2000 movie starred Christian Bale as Bateman, the wealthy New York banking executive with a psychopathic streak. Meanwhile, Jared Leto played Allen, a fellow investment banker whom Bateman murdered.

Last year, director Luca Guadagnino (of Challengers fame) announced working on a new interpretation of Ellis' book. Since then, many have speculated on its casting. In December, Variety, citing "sources," reported that Austin Butler's casting as Bateman was imminent. This remains unconfirmed as of this writing.

Discussing the speculation with The Hollywood Reporter, Barden noted that Butler was too attractive to play Bateman, stating:

"I would cast Austin in Jared's role because he's that beautiful, and that's why we cast Jared, is because he's that beautiful."

Luca Guadagnino confirms Scott Z. Burns was working on the script for American Psycho at CinemaCon 2025

During his interview, Kerry Barden noted that despite them being labeled as "beautiful," both Austin Butler and Jared Leto were great actors as well, but added:

"Jared is certainly a great actor as well, and obviously, Austin has a lot of depth as an actor, too. But not every person has that kind of beauty."

According to Men's Journal, Barden has been a casting director for over three decades, with casting credits for films like Winter’s Bone (2010), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), and The Help (2012). All have earned him accolades for the same.

The 2000 adaptation of American Psycho saw Jared Leto's Paul Allen constantly outpacing Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman, much to the latter's jealousy and rage. Eventually, Bateman ends up killing his rival. Directed by Mary Harron, the film starred Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, Chloë Sevigny, Justin Theroux, and Matt Ross in addition to the two actors.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, earlier this month, Luca Guadagnino shared an update on his film during Lionsgate‘s presentation at CinemaCon, held at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Guadagnino stated:

"We are really working hard to bring to the screen a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, a book that I deeply love that is something that influenced me so much."

Guadagnino also confirmed Scott Z. Burns was working on the script for the film, adding that it was coming out "handsomely." While he didn't discuss the casting, he noted that he was "in conversation with very exciting performers to play the leads."

According to Variety, Guadagnino previously explained that the project is a new take on the novel and not a remake of the 2000 film.

Meanwhile, Ross, who played Bateman's co-worker Luis Carruthers in the original American Psycho film, told The Hollywood Reporter he was always "sad" about remakes, calling it "mercenary capitalism." However, noting that Guadagnino's version is a new interpretation, he stated:

"That still feels like a business venture more than anything else, but being that it’s based on a book, there can be multiple interpretations, so why not?"

Calling him a "wonderful filmmaker," Ross added that they have their "work cut out" for them, especially given Christian Bale's exceptional performance.

Austin Butler has not publicly reacted to rumors about American Psycho.