So, in light of all the hub-bub being made about Christian Bale’s ridiculous outrage during a scene in Terminator 4 (must listen to audio here if you have not yet), Assistant Director, that’s AD for short, Bruce Franklin reacts to the situation publicly. E! News has broken the reaction.
“If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove…It was the most emotional scene in the movie,” said Franklin. “And for him to get stopped in the middle of it. He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn’t walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed.
“This was my second movie with Christian, and it has always been a good experience with him,” added Franklin, who also worked with the actor on 2000’s Shaft. “He is so dedicated to the craft. I think someone is begging to make some noise about this, but I don’t think it’s fair. The art of acting is not paint by numbers, it’s an art form.”
I can see it being an emotional scene and all, probably one where he squares off against the Terminator and says “Siyonara baby” or something of similar ilk. At least he didn’t use the Batman voice during his tirade, that would have only made it worse. Honestly, there is no reasonable explanation for this sort of blow-up. Its so unprofessional and only serves to add to the perception that stars are prima-donnas. It’s all sort of sad and pathetic.
I am always talking about separating the person from the persona in art form, whether it is a musician being an a-hole and making great music, or a situation like this happening. Hopefully, on the greater whole it doesn’t detract from what one feels about them on screen, but it certainly can’t help matters for how one feels about them off-screen. I am essentially pouring out a little liquor for this “dead homie,” now. He can’t recover from this in my eyes. Add that to the whole situation with his Mom earlier last year and things start to add up against somebody. We’ll see if I end up seeing the movie. Will this affect your perception of Bale or whether or not you will want to see him in T4 or any other movie? Debate, please.
I will most definitely NOT see any more movies by this putz. If he were to EVER act like that towards me, he, or anyone else for that matter, would be in a fight with me. I don’t take that. Neither should the gentleman who did the unfortunate deed be expected to take that either.
In my eyes, Christian Bale has now achieved P.O.S. status.
While it is unprofessional, I don’t see it affecting my viewing of this movie, or his movies, especially since he is the Batman and who would not want to see #3, or is it #7, or #8(Corny 60’s era Batman movies got to count, right?) That type of response is like people avoiding Tom Cruise and M:I III because of his Today Show incident and Scientology. The actor, or director (Roman Polanski), may be a jerk or perv., but that does not mean that they cant produce quality product that can be enjoyable and entertaining and worthy of your ten bones, or $2.50 if you buy it from Pedro selling the bootleg standing outside of Super Taqueria.
Now does it mean I want to be his friend or do I admire him, nope, but I can still have fun watching him grumble as the man in black.
Watch his career go down in flames…
Like I said in the original post, it’s a matter of having to separate the artist from the art. It’s extremely difficult to do with someone whose work you respect. Polanski is a great example. People booed when he won the Oscar from what I recall, but did he not deserve it for the job he did? Woody Allen is in a similar vein in some people’s eyes, but the guy is a genius writer/actor/director. Lastly, I don’t particularly like the image that Shia LeBeouf has painted for himself off-camera, but I’ve always thought the guy was good onscreen and that’s the part I respect and the part I’ve personally witnessed.
The DP walked into the set, after the director shouted action after being told multiple times by Bale, McG, Bruce and Frank to not tweak the lights while the camera are rolling because it distracts the actors. This DP in particular is notorious for being a “Light Tweaker”.
Imagine you are building a house, and some asshole brakes all the glass. Fair enough, accident, but if he does it again, then you have a right to be shitty. Which is exactly what happens. Rule number one in the industry, once the director shouts action, only the actors are in front of the camera and moving about. That stuff should have been locked down before McG shouted action. Which in turn, means the unprofessionalism of the DP was the cause of the tirade. Had the DP not been stupid enough to check his shit before “Action”, this would have never happened.
DP got what he deserved. Apparantly now he is a better DP because he doesnt dick with shit while the camera’s are rolling.
Did that Polanski win not generate many a debate?
Andrew, and everyone else have some good points. I liken it to being a fan of OJ Simpson (or anyone else) as a football player, and then the guy is a double-murderer, lopping off the domes of his wife and lover in real life. Or the other thing he was convicted for, kidnapping for goods he claimed he owns. His actions do not ruin what he did on the field. I don’t like the guy, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a Hall of Fame player.
Same can be said here for Bale in a sense. People love him as Batman, and sure as Andrew said, the situation could have been avoided, actors are emotional people by nature, but he still should have handled the situation better. I don’t need to like the guy as a human to watch him in films, but it does help. Someone brought up the Cruise argument with Scientology/couch-jumping but one would be hard pressed to argue that it didn’t significantly hurt his career. It did and people don’t look at him the same. It is what it is, this is America and people have different beliefs, but my perception of Bale has changed as a result of this incident (and there are one or two priors as well.)
It’s the DP’s fault of course. He does it TWICE. He needs to be told off. Sure Bale went off for a bit long, he apologized the next day I think, but the DP needed to be put in his place, walking around checking lights during the filming of a scene is something any professional director of photography should know NOT to do…EVER. Especially if the actors are filming the most intense scene in the film…come on. Anyone who looks down on Bale because of this, or God forbid, are going to now boycott his films are over-reacting more than Bale did on the DP. Come on, think about it and try to put yourself in the situation where you’re doing work and someone who’s supposed to help completely does the opposite….twice.
I dont see how this is considered unprofesional i think ANY ACTOR or DIRECTOR would go livid if you mess up a scene they are working on. And what person hasnt blown up someone or “gone off” one someone in everyday life? What its unprofessional because its an “actor” who blew up on someone? Give me a break, he did what anybody would have done who had something ruined by someone. Just because hes an actor doesnt mean he should hold his tongue and give off this certain “image” Please, if someone ruined hours of hard work that i was doing best believe im going to have a few choice words. Him being actor makes it no different.
Bale is an asshole. If this were any other workplace he would have been let go after the first expletive-filled sentence of his tirade. Angry? Sure, maybe if the DP had walked into the scene twice you’ve got a legit excuse for getting angry and walking off to your trailer for a few minutes to cool down. But Bale doesn’t do this. Instead, he threatens a co-worker. “I’m gonna kick you ass” is a threat, and threats against co-workers in the workplace can not be tolerated. Bale should have been sacked immediately.
Will I go to see any of his movies. No! Why the hell would I want to continue to give a portion of my ticket price to this psychotic abuser. Hopefully his career suffers as a result, but that kind of poetic justice is rare in this world. Instead, dumb *ucks like this guy will continue to get away with their violent outbursts until finally some poor shmuck who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time gets hurt by this idiot.
Personally, I think everyone should stop going to this guys movies. Let him know there are consequences for acting that way. One can hope.
I don’t plan on watching anymore movies with him. cursing is one thing, but threatening to kick his ass multiple times to the point where it sounds like someone had to hold him back!? and then threatening to walk off the set if he is still hired?
man that’s a dick move. I hope they find another batman this guy is a joke.
Wow! That is soooo unprofessional it is almost unbelievable.
Are actors/actresses so important, so above everyone else, so full of themselves that they think they can act this way?
Or maybe it is just Bale. Isn’t he the jerk that assaulted his mother? What a winner, eh?