Christian Bale’s Broken Image

Christian Bale’s blowup at D.P. Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator Salvation is completely unacceptable and shameful.  I understand that Bale was in the middle of an intense scene that put him in a different frame of mind, but filmmaking is a team project and everyone on the team deserves respect.  Being an actor is no more important than painting a set or lighting a scene.  Hurlbut was not trying to sabotage the film.  On the contrary, he was trying to do his job.  Though Shane Hurlbut may have made a mistake by interrupting the scene, Bale’s response was childish.  If he were an unknown actor, his conduct would have immediately gotten him fired and kicked off the set.  I hope Christian Bale takes the proper steps to mend his image by apologizing.  He is fine actor, but I have lost quite a bit of respect.

Listen to Christian Bale’s rant
 

[UPDATE]

This morning Christian Bale called in to Los Angeles radio station KROQ to issue an apology…

“It’s been a miserable week for me.”

“Listen, I know I have a pottymouth, everybody knows that now, but I understand this is live, so please don’t worry, I will behave.”

“The thing that I really want to stress is that I have no confusion whatsoever. I was out of order, beyond belief. I was way out of order. I acted like a punk. I regret that and there is nobody that has heard that tape that it’s hit harder by it than me. So I make no excuses for it. It is inexcusable and I hope that is absolutely clear.”

“One thing that has really disturbed me throughout this, because I’m not familiar, I’m comfortable yet with this notion of being a movie star. I’m an actor and I’m don’t quite know how to handle the movie star thing. The thing that disturbs me so much is that I’ve heard a lot of people saying that I seem to think I’m better than anybody else.”

“I’m embarrassed by it. I ask everybody to sit down and ask themselves, have they ever had a bad day and have they ever lost their temper and really regretted it immensely.”

“Feel free to make fun of me at my expense; I deserve it completely.”

Listen to Christian Bale’s apology on KROQ’s homepage.