Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale learned former US Vice President Dick Cheney despised his portrayal in "Vice" through a rude message he received from another parent at his son's school.

"The Dark Knight Rises" star gained weight to play the politician in the 2018 biopic, and although his on screen performance won him an Oscar nomination, it appears Cheney was not impressed with the film, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Bale says he only found out about Cheney's disdain for the project through a mutual acquaintance.

"Strangely enough it was through my son's school," the actor recalled to Yahoo! Entertainment.

"One of the mums was at a party that (Cheney) was at, and she said, 'Oh, I'm going to be seeing Christian tomorrow, you have anything to say to him?' And he said, 'Tell him he's a d**k.'"

Bale initially took the remark as a joke, but Cheney wasn't laughing when he said it, "I went, 'Oh, at least he's got a sense of humour,'" he shared.

"And she said, 'No, there was no humour to it whatsoever'."

The Brit had previously said he wasn't granted a meeting with President George W. Bush's number two prior to the shoot, so he could only hope that Cheney was pleased with the film.