Christian Bale Apologizes For "Inexcusable" Rant

LOS ANGELES — Christian Bale says he acted like a "punk" and that his profane tongue-lashing on the set of "Terminator Salvation" was inexcusable.

In Friday remarks on a Los Angeles morning radio show, Bale said he never intended to get physical with cinematographer Shane Hurlbut. He also said he was likely channeling too much of his character, John Conner.

Bale also told the "Kevin and Bean" show on KROQ 106.7 that he and Hurlbut reconciled and worked together for another month following the tirade.

The outburst, which occurred last year on the set in New Mexico, was posted this week on the celebrity gossip site TMZ. It has become an Internet sensation, inspiring a music remix, spoofs, and punch lines for the "Kevin and Bean" show.

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On the Net:

http://www.kroq.com

http://www.tmz.com

Comments

[salamanca1]

The rant was inexcusable. On the other hand, the remix is AWESOME.

[jerrycurls]

Oh Jeez, he yelled at someone. Somehow I think there are a lot worse things he could have done.

Maybe it's time to let it go.

[Truby]

Can you "channel" a fictional character?

[GrainneKathleen]

Sure. Fiction comes from the human experience and imagination; why not?

[Truby]

Yours is an interesting redefinition of the term, I like it but do you think Bale meant it that way or is it more likely he was deflecting some of his responsibility?

[TheBlackCat]

I find it amusing. all the people here saying that we don't understand the pressure he's under, and that the stress of working on a set excuses his behavior.

Millions of Americans work in much highers stress environments. Doctors, lawyers, soldiers, firemen, people who are responsible for LIVES, not money, and who work just as many hours as Bale does, if not more. I've worked in a heart surgery unity and now am working for a cancer hospital. These doctors have people's LIVES in their hands every single day. But let me tell you, if one of the doctors ever went off on an employee like that, he would be severely reprimanded. And also, surgeons and pediatric oncologists hardly have the reputations for throwing tantrums that actors do. Which is more stressful, the prospect of a ruined scene or the prospect of a two year old dying on your table?

That said, I love Bale as an actor. I have ever since Newsies, and I've seen and loved all his films. I think Empire of the Sun and Equilibrium and Rescue Dawn are just fantastic. I don't really care if he's a jerk. If people are willing to work with him, I'll watch his movies.

[Charity]

reminds me of the rant, caught on camera but never aired live of course, of jessica savitch. someone put it to music, much to her horror, and it was shown to everyone for the rest of her career (she sadly had a bad ending; r.i.p, jessica).

as for bale, not my problem; don't care who he rants to. bale was obviously into a scene, had prepared for it, and was giving it his all - when this DP ruined the take with his thoughtlessness. as bale said, it wasn't the first time the DP had ruined a take apparently and this most likely is what sent bale over the edge.

this is why actors make loads of money - they have to pretend to be other people and make it believeable so we can spent gobs of money watching them and think it's 'real'. it comes at a cost to their emotional lives - witness the scores of alcoholics, addicts, anger-challenged actors thru the years.

i've had bosses with anger problems in an office setting, which is far more intimidating and scary than some actor going off on a DP on a movie set where both of them make much more money than the rest of us to put up with each other's personal creative problems.

that bale apologized is nice. they both most likely still think the other is an a ----- and would most likely work with the other if the price and creative project was right.

[jatta9901]

What an idiot!

[paulalex]

Look who's talking.

[bugsbonzai]

That's a good movie. With Bruce Willis as the voice of the baby!

[roninroshi]

He did make one truthful statement...He is a "Punk"...I'm sure this will happen again.

[RODERICK098]

Reading the posts of people who are condemning Bale I am assuming that they themselves have never lost their temper. There are two sides to a story. I am neither condemning or praising Bale but there is a possibilty that this person that is being yelled at has been told on many occasions not to walk in front of the camera when the actors are acting. Has no one seen the Peter Sellars movie-The Party.

[jozinha]

Let me get this straight. This episode happened LAST YEAR????

Who the heck decided to release now and WHY?

Is this, pardon me if I get a little conspiracy-theorist here, a new way to get media attention and publicity?

Think about it. How damaging is this really? But you've got to ask: who could have profited from releasing the recording to TMZ? The guy who was yelled at? Where is his career going after this? But Xian's, that will be fine.

[jerrycurls]

Well, TMZ is owned by Time-Warner and "Terminator Salvation" is a Warner Bros. film. So, i'll give you three guesses who benefits the most out of the this...

[jozinha]

Wow! I'm right!!!!!!!!

[jsomerville5]

I just hope to God he doesn't verbally abuse his wife and daughter like this. God help em if he does.

People like that need to be called on their s***. Sounds like Bale has been allowed to get away with this prima donna behavior his entire life.

[andvoodoo2]

His own mother had him arrested last year for abusing her. He's very unstable.

[jerrycurls]

His own mother was also trying to extort $200,000.00 from him and ended up selling her story to the British tabloids.

[hollyglightly123]

Are you his shrink?

[LeftistGuerrilla]

yeah, he sounded rather ruthless, but we don't know the context. It sounded like the guy did this before, perhaps intentionally. Bale totally overreacted though. Haven't we all done some stupid things or things we are ashamed of?

[rbryanh]

I propose an experiment.

Monday morning, let's all have 10 cups of coffee and take the transcript of Bale's rant to wherever we work. Let's each pick a subordinate and scream it at them, at the top of our respective lungs. All of it. Foot stomping, spit spraying, fist clenching... the works.

Then apologize. Blame the coffee. Say we were channelling Christian Bale. Hang our little heads and use the word "inappropriate" a lot. Shed a tear for the camera.

On Tuesday, let's all report back. Who still has a job? Who's facing legal action? We'll assume anyone we don't hear from is in jail.

The point here is the double standard: powerful people are allowed to abuse their coworkers with impunity, particularly when they act out the unacceptable impulses of their admirers.

[Tulka2]

LOL Nice post. Perhaps more of us should signal when we are "drowning instead of waving"..? Perhaps there would be less of the "going postal" thing at work....?

[TLaw]

He behaved just like a "Christian" .

[v eyepete]

I don't understand this. This was a private closed set as they all are. That rant was done in private, to members of the crew. The sound man certainly should have cut the microphones and not have been recording this. That guy should never work in the business again. If he is the same guy who took this to the producers and then sent it out to the public at large, I would have to consider it a really despicable act of an invasion of privacy. You can bet that every big star who cares about privacy and with a reputation to protect will know this sound man's name and not want him on the set. This is like a friend recording a private telephone conversation and then putting it on U tube to destroy you. It is totally unethical and I am wondering why this invasion of privacy is not an issue. We pay CB to give a good work in a film. His private rants and private life should be his own. Our country has really changed over the last 8 years and not for the better, must we add becoming the 'tabloid nation' to all the many other failings. Let's grow up, shall we?

[bugsbonzai]

Right. So long as I treat people like crap behind closed doors, it's all fun and games. Gotcha. Excuse me, I'm going to shut the door now, so I can yell at my subordinates.

[rbryanh]

"That rant was done in private, to members of the crew."

Try again. The rant was done in the workplace, against a coworker. Go to work Monday, address similar language to a subordinate, and see if you still have a job on Tuesday.

[rbryanh]

I'm crushed... It turns out actors have behavioral problems, are emotionally unstable, scapegoat others for their failings, and use Bad Words. It's all very fine and good for him to apologize, but who am I going to model my children after now? This is appalling. I have five years of training invested in little Christian 2.0, and now we find out the original program is full of bugs?

Just what I need - a first grader than can't perform to spec.

[Charity]

LOL

[DKLabRat]

About time. I was appalled to hear a director defending him by saying that his response was reasonable. Sorry. If he was working in an office he'd have had his lights punched out. Let's stop this nonsense that just because someone is an actor they can behave like a complete jerk. And while we're at it, let's put to rest this crap that actors can't tell the difference between themselves and their characters while they are working. If they really can't then they must be very poor actors.