Still cool.

Here are a couple of interesting articles regarding this Christian Bale saga. I am completely in defense of him. Did he go overboard? Yes. But haven't we all lost our tempers before? It is so easy to throw stones, but none of us were there. From my comparitively small amount of acting, I know that when you are immersed in a project, it can really influence your mood, attitude, emotions, thoughts, everything. Good actors will let themselves become immersed. Christian Bale is a great actor, he tries to do the best job he can and we, the audience, reap the benefits of that. He's good because he gives his all and he was in the middle of a very intense shoot when this incident occurred. Again, from my little bit of acting experience, I can tell you it takes a tremendous, unbelievable amount of concentration to be emotionally and physically present and available. Good actors will be vulnerable and raw and the result of ripping open ones heart and soul to the camera can be incredibly taxing and very hard to shake off. So, obviously, he went overboard, but give the guy a break, because unless you were standing in his place, with who knows what other stressors in your life affecting you, with the pressure of a huge movie on your back, and what sounds like, a jerk of a DP screwing up your concentration for possibly the umpteenth time, you shouldn't judge so harshly...people who are judging harshly.

"There's two sides to every story of a superstar's verbal smackdown of a futz-happy DP. If we're to believe Radar, Shane Hurlbut—the berated cinematogapher in question—was a set terror the crew was glad to see humiliated.

According to their report, the confrontation elevated Bale to kingly heights among the peasant crewfolk Hurlbut had sadistically shamed countless times before:

[Hurlbut] was widely despised," sources tell RadarOnline.com exclusively. "Hurlbut was a condescending (bleep) to everyone," a source told us. His favorite line was "Why don't you go stab yourself in the head, you idiot."

But can we trust Radar's report? A Defamer tipster seems to corroborate their findings:

I was on the crew of another film Shane was recently DP on and he was despised. Crew hated him - actors had hard time. He would tell his crew, if he was displeased with them, to "Stab themselves in the heart and die." or "Blow yourself up." On this film he would constantly re-light when actors got to set and tweak during takes - it was bad.

Well then. That really puts a new spin on things, doesn't it?"



"As if on cue, Christian Bale has surfaced with tail tucked neatly between legs to apologize for the rant that has kept bloggers, Access Hollywood reporters, and talk show hosts knee-deep in material for days.

He brought his first, and therefore most critical, mea maxima culpa to an unlikely platform, calling in to KROQ's Kevin & Bean radio show. After assuring them "this is no punk," he thanked them for making him laugh during what has been a "miserable week" for the anger-mismanaging Terminator Salvation star.

The apology itself was a masterful act of contrition, with Bale gingerly avoiding any even remotely salty language as he went about the business of hitting his various, self-effacing, did-it-for-the-greater-good-of-the-production-but-what-a-impotent-little-hot-head-I-am talking points.

On caring too much:

I'm not comfortable yet with this notion of being a "movie star." I'm an actor. The thing that disturbs me so much is that I've heard a lot of people saying that I think that I'm better than everybody else. And nothing could be further from the truth. I'm a lucky S.O.B., and that is why I put so much into what I do.

How the Method made him do it:

In [T2] you will meet Sarah Connor. And she is in an insane asylum—why is she there? Because she is crazy. Now I play John Connor her son, and on the day that all of this happened, the scene that we were doing, I was trying to show a little of that in-the-blood craziness, and it went a little wrong... I took it way too far, and I completely mixed up fact and fiction. I'm half John Connor, I'm half Christian there.

On how DP Shane Hurlbut and he are not quite done professionally:

I've not only talked with him, we've resolved this completely. That very day we kept working for a number of hours. Listen when I'm saying I'm not coming back on that set if he's still hired, it's hot air. I don't believe that. I have no intention of getting anybody fired.

On the folly of him being perceived as a bully:

And another thing: a lot of people that I was a bully to this guy. That's an insult to Shane. He is a big guy. I couldn't have bullied that guy if I tried. He's much bigger than me—he's an ex-friggin football player.

One final plea for your Terminator Salvation dollars, if not for Bale, then for the hardworking TS crew:

Please, I'm asking people— do not let my one time lapse in judgment, my incredibly embarrassing meltdown overshadow this movie, and let all those people's hard work go to work go to waste. The mythology is too big."


To listen to the full apology, go to either of these links (sorry couldn't find a way to actually post it here):

http://defamer.com/5148140/a-repentant-christian-bale-asks-have-you-ever-had-a-bad-day?skyline=true&s=x

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/audio/020609_bale-mp4.mp4