http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/02/bale-went-ballistic/#comments This is a recording of Christian Bale going off on the cinematographer during a scene. I always thought "the show must go on", no matter what happens. I guess not. Geez. What a bully. It's not a even a fight when you are mr. bigshot on set.
From Wiki: On 2 February 2009, Bale was in the news again when TMZ.com posted an audio recording of his angry tirade against Shane Hurlbut, director of photography for Terminator: Salvation which was apparently prompted by Hurlbut accidentally stepping on camera during filming.[50] The recording (click here for the clip: audio) is of a highly agitated Bale screaming profanities at Hurlbut over his lack of professionalism, threatening him, and finally threatening to quit the film if Hurlbut was not fired. The audio was so shocking it made to title page of Drudgereport.com. It was reported that Warner film executives sent the tape to the insurance company that insured the film in case Bale decided to bail out on the production as well as to Time-Warner's TMZ gossip site.
I dunno man... Film life can be VERY demanding, especially when you're on set, nothings going the way it should be, other people are constantly complaining, finally you're getting something done, you're filming, its a great shot, then next thing you know, someone thats been doing everything wrong all day completely ruins it... I dunno, but it's quite possible something like this went down. Everyone can go there. This isn't anything new on a film set. Just sayin'.
Well, an actor or an actress is getting paid multiples of dollars more than the writer. And really, actors get paid big beans to do...not a lot. There are greats that make a movie, but Bale isn't one of them. He spends 90% of the movie talking in a voice that 97% of us could do. His contribution to modern cinema is...nothing. His acting isn't there in a costume that a lot of men could fill with a voice the rest of us could. And don't give me **** about demanding jobs. When your paycheck rolls out to millions, or tens thereof, STFU...you recite lines given to you on a script as molded by a director. I am greatly simplifying this...but Bale is no great actor and he thinks he is. His contribution to acting is being able to pull off asthma on a regular basis. He's a cheesedick and a moron.
Haha, fair enough. Liked him in "The Machinist" though, as well as his other more known stuff. Always thought hes a good actor, dedicated to the role. Case in point, going from something like 170 lbs to ~120.
To make matters worse, he went nuts on the 4th installment of a franchise that died after the first movie. ...I mean, really. Terminator 4? He went nuts on a set of Terminator 4 for Christ Sakes? No one on this green Earth expects anything from T4 which is why they hired Bale. They wanted Ben Affleck for the role, but he ran away from it. Really, think about that for a second. When Affleck runs fro a movie...best to pull the plug. And now he's some thespial luminary. Please. I mean really, please.
The franchise died after the first one? Come on man, T2 is widely viewed as the best of the first trilogy. Admittedly the third one sucked donkey balls, but they're gonna get it back for the fourth. You have to admit that Bale certainly has had a chain of blockbusters (not saying you have to like them, but they've done great at the box office, and there are plenty, and I mean PLENTY of people that love them (Batman Begins, The Prestige, Dark Knight etc)), and he's going to continue this with Terminator Salvation and later, with Public Enemies. Also, in regards to Ben Affleck, he certainly was a disaster (climaxing with "Gigli"), but Gone Baby Gone was supposed to be very good, and he's in another one that looks right well done, "State of Play", with Russell Crowe. So he might be coming back to his senses. My .02.
The first thing I would have done after that tirade is call the police. Clearly that guy is getting canned so he should look out for himself. I would have called the po po after the threat of the ass beating {and what sounded like Bale lunging towards the guy only to be held back by someone}. The aim would be to have Bale hauled off the set, then I would have sought some refuge under an umbrella of "work place stress" and sued Bale of the time I missed which would have been months. Guys like that get sued and lose big because they can't control their temper... I would have egged him on and lead him down that path as far as I could, just enticing him to take a swing or throw a phone. I love situations like that.
I would have asked him "WHY SO SERIOUS?" I find it funny when he accuses the DP of being "unprofessional". I suppose "professionals" don't get on with it, they go on a rampage for 4 minutes. What a whiner.
Real theatre trained actors are probably rolling their eyes. They believe the show must go on no matter what the distraction.
If he sued or called the police that DP would probably have a very hard time finding future work....its not always about money...for a DP to not be able to film anymore...well no amount of cash could make up for that. This kind of stuff goes on every day on Hollywood sets. Ive seen it for over 20 years. Will never change. Hollywood doesnt run like a professional corporation. it runs like a dysfunctional family. Its a bunch of creative/ artist types. Yelling and flying off the handle is simply accepted. Ive seen Spielberg go off on people in front of the entire crew on Jurassic Park...so its not limited to just actors. Dont get me wrong...Im not saying its right or okay. Im just saying this was not an uncommon situation...
Possibly cocaine? He should use his Batman voice. This high pitched sqeaky voice just aint cutting it when it comes ot intimidation.
The DP could have said "What's that I can't hear you with that penis in your mouth???" The tape could have gotten much more intense then... It reminded me of the South Park with Russel Crowe wanting to fight everyone Popeye style! BT
Here's more info on the story from AICN... Quote: I'm getting slammed with assloads of people angry at me for not posting the Bale explosion from the set of McG's TERMINATOR: SALVATION. Well, first off - there's a real simple reason. It isn't news. And it certainly isn't cool news. It is a moment in a man's life taken completely out of context and most likely leaked to personally embarrass Christian Bale. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking... There's no excuse for a temper tantrum like that to ever occur and if you are going to act that way, you deserve to be embarrassed by your own actions. Except, you want to hear the REALITY behind that clip? I know this because I happen to be somewhere where someone that was there that day and for the shoot is. And this person isn't a publicist, nor are they invested in Bale's career. They're just someone that thinks it is absolute bull**** that this moment in Bale's life is being aired and that the real story should get out there. The DP on TERMINATOR SALVATION, Shane Hurlbut, is a apparently a light tweaker. He's a fairly young DP and likes to fiddle with his lights on set during action, which is a big "NO NO" on most productions unless worked out in advance with performers. But apparently Shane was a pretty unrepentant light tweaker. The scene in question, was a very emotional and tough scene between Christian Bale and Bryce Howard. A scene that required soul bearing and a deep level of immersive concentration. The sort of scene where everyone on set knows not to get in anyone's eye lines, and definitely not to move lights around while FILMING. You lock that **** down before the scene starts. Bale had indeed warned the DP on multiple occasions about messing with lights while the cameras were rolling, and Bale was in the midst of a painful scene with Bryce, what was described to me as being the emotional center of the film and his character for the film. Now, the reason I know all of this is because the person that was there, felt that it should be made perfectly clear that Christian Bale was the utmost gentleman and cool guy on se... most of the time. And the DP was doing something that professional DPs with experience just don't do. At least not during a performance. You don't need me to give you a link, it's all over the internet, I just felt that you should know what really went down - and that this particular outburst did indeed modify the DP's behavior. For future DPs: **** with the lights before and after your actors are acting. Not during.