Christian Bale out rage

EvsFX08

EvsFX08

OK so I'd like to hear how some of you producers would have handled the whole Christian Bale outburst. On one hand, I can kinda see his point of being distracted espescially when being paid as much as he gets, however, on the other hand, isn't it the expense of the producer on having to redo the scene? I'm sure I'm extremely naiive on this whole thing, but it seems to me that if he threatened to walk, as the producer, I would have said, "ok fine, that's a breach of contract, see ya, I'll get someone else." but, i'm sure that's probably an over simplification and probably a ridiculous response, but hey, I'm admittedly naiive to Big Hollywood. But I mean he was totally disrespectful to the guy. If it were me I think I might have punched him the face and claimed "I felt threatened ,so I defended myself".
 
I have no context for this question, is there a news item you can link to? I avoid the news like the plague - so much is sensationalized for getting eyes on the outlets that it hardly resembles news anymore.
 
Sounds bad on tape but without video or more tape there's no telling what went down. Maybe the DP was aimlessly wandering into all of Christian's shots when he should have been behind the camera. Maybe he did this when Christian thought he nailed a scene. Or maybe Christian is just pompous hothead, and all the DP did was adjust a light and they weren't even rolling.
 
No idea. Reminds me of the I heart huckabees outtake. As strong as I am and as much as I can deal with problems, I would have a very hard time dealing with someone like that on set. I don't think there's any justification unless he was physically harmed on set. Somehow I have a hard time imagining Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart acting like that.
 
According to his last personal assistant in a recent interview, this is not out of character for him, I mean we're talking about the same Bale who's mom placed a restraining order against him and he was brought up on charges of domestic abuse. He might want to spend some of the millions he makes on anger management. the DP might have made a mistake, but I wonder, does the Director or Producer go off and threaten Bale when he doesn't get a scene just right? Or are actors perfect? Just a thought.
 
I'm not an actor, but they take their craft very seriously. If you bump into a painter's brush and a black streak goes across his painting chances are he will go off on you. Belittlement is not cool though. He is not above anyone else.
 
Oh I get that part, I mean it's very frustrating to be concentrating on something and then be distracted and I'm sure he takes his work very seriously, but I mean, come on, it's acting, not brain surgery, you get to redo something with acting. Getting distracted with a line or facial expression is quite different than being distracted with a scalpel inside of someone's head. Iit's not like he's a newbie actor trying to establish his acting abilities, I think he's a great actor and obviously so did the producers. I could see a 30 second outlash with a few expletives, but to last as long as it did I think is completely unprofessional. But hey, that was the point of this Thread to see the different view points of others. I guess after being shot at a few times overseas has made me see things differently. Little things don't bother me like they used to. Hell, I thought people laugh at outtakes and mistakes on sets.
 
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And that's just my point. He should know by now if he wants a below-the-line person fired, he can do it fairly easily, there's no need for a tantrum.
 
Yeah, it was over the top. I was just wondering what exactly caused it. Is it an inexperienced DP that wanders into shots? Or a rageaholic actor that goes off over nothing?
 
Very over the top! The guy can act with a boom pole in his face, but not when the D.P. is looking at a light? That said, I've also read from some supposed inside sources that if anyone deserved a chewing, that it was this D.P. :lol:
 
If that's the case, he should not be chewed out by the ACTOR. The actor should take the producer on set aside and tell him his issues. The producer should handle this. Not Bale.
IMHO
 
That's what I was thinking too. I mean certainly even with films, there's a Chain of Command, or at least a hierarchy of order where certain people are responsible for certain areas. But, I guess there are the John Travolta's and there are the Bales, much like Directors I presume.
 
Yeah, he needs to grow up... I understand his frustration, but really? A tirade like that? Uncalled for, I don't care the infraction. As stated above, there's a chain of command that needs to be followed. I'd have had him escorted off set by security for something like that until he cooled down.
 
FatalFire said:
i'm sure he regrets it now that its all over the internet.
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Doubt it, if a Restraining Order and Domestic violence charges (later dropped I think) didn't straighten him out, I seriously doubt having this on the internet will have any effect on him nor will he feel any remorse, it's a pattern, he simply has a behavorial problem. Maybe he was beat up everyday in school for being a dork, who knows? Now he's Batman exacting his revenge on other dorks, I don't know. I'll still watch his movies though. Tom Cruise's weird behavior and ideas didn't really affect his career (or did it)? So I guess the question is, does an actor's ability to bring in large audiences outweigh his antics on set?
 
indietalk said:
Sounds bad on tape but without video or more tape there's no telling what went down. Maybe the DP was aimlessly wandering into all of Christian's shots when he should have been behind the camera. Maybe he did this when Christian thought he nailed a scene. Or maybe Christian is just pompous hothead, and all the DP did was adjust a light and they weren't even rolling.
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That's the question I had about this, what actually was the deal?

If the DP was walking around the set and into scenes while the camera was rolling, then I guess Bale would have an excuse to be mad. But the person to handle that would be the DIRECTOR because the DP would have ruined the scene.

Now, if Bale was yelling at the guy for....for what? Walking past where Bale was....what? Rehearsing? Sounds like a strange version of "Mom, he's looking at me," WTF??? Don't walk by me or do your job where I am standing?

I don't get it. So, I guess my question would be what exactly happened to make him go off like that.

.....mind you, I don't really care enough about this guy to lose 30 minutes of my life watching the entertainment channels in order to find out....:D

-- spinner :cool:
 
I read that Shane walked into the eyeline of Bale during a take. It does not say, but I assume he was off camera. It also does not say precisely what Shane was doing there or why he was there.

I was an actor in a film recently where this happened and was very distracting. The 2nd was waving off passers-by from entering the non-closed set, but it was maybe 20 feet from me, right in my eyeline.

So I killed her and warned the crew that would happen to them if any of them pulled that again.

Just kidding, I ruined the take, but we did another. Was a bummer though because it was a one-er and we had already done a few takes.
 
What he did was probably the most funny thing I've heard in awhile.

How can you be speaking to someone about professionalism while you're stomping your feet and crying like a little baby, being unprofessional yourself?

Christian Bale obviously has no idea how to be a professional.

Since this is Hollywood, they just have to put up with him, because the studios want the pretty boy actor on camera.

In any other context, he would have been dismissed I'd assume. Who wants to put up with someone who is obviously completely incapable of discussing an issue he's having in a reasonable, calm manner? What he needs is anger management, and the DP should sue Bale for his actions.

I'd assume this happens in Hollywood a lot. Big shot actor makes lots of money and gets fans, so he starts to think he's it. He's movies. Without him, nothing happens. Well, unfortunately for him, there are oodles and oodles of pretty boy actors knocking down doors every day trying to break into the industry, so people like Christian Bale are a dime a dozen. A good DP and crew is hard to find. The issue is studios and whatnot cater to actors like they're gods gift, and this inflates their ego.

I can't see anyone wanting to work with Christian Bale after an outburst like that. Who would want to deal with a crybaby?

They should have fined Christian Bale money for the 4 minutes he wasted sobbing about his poor little actor feelings. A true professional would recognize that it was an accident, keep his anger to himself, and take steps to ensure that this didn't happen again, i.e. letting the guy know that this is extremely distracting and making it hard or impossible for him to do the scene, and have someone keep an eye on the guy so he doesn't do it again.

Of COURSE something like this is frustrating, but everyone gets frustrated every day. The difference is, adults handle it maturely, and children throw tantrums.
 
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