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Bale looses it during filming... (1 Viewer)

Jerome Grate

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I don't know what type of guy this director of photography, but I would have waited 15 seconds during Bale's vulgar attack...,then slapped the heck out of him. Of course if it didn't jeopardize my job or career in film. What a jerk he was spending all that time to curse out an individual.
 

MattFini

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I lose my temper a lot, as I'm sure a lot of people do ... on a regular basis. And I get really ticked off at my job on a daily basis, but I have never spoken to anybody that way in my life and, quite frankly, think it's a disgrace.

I'm sure there's a history there, maybe Bale has been ticked at things that DP has done in the past, and maybe rightfully so. But his explosion was Diva-like behavior anyway you look at it.

What really amazes me is that everyone on the set seemed too terrified to say anything to him other than a few meek whispers. I guess nobody wants to piss of the "big star."
 

Martin Teller

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I'm pretty sure that if I threatened to kick a co-worker's ass, I'd get fired in a heartbeat.
 

Michael Reuben

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Why do people always assume that calm = meekness? Yelling back just aggravates an already tense situation.
 

DavidPla

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"..But Bruce Franklin, an assistant director and associate producer on the fourth Terminator film, insists the star was only upset for a short period of time before his "moment" passed.

Franklin tells E! Online, "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. 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."

And Franklin is adamant the rant has only been released to slander Bale, who he worked with on the 2000 movie Shaft: "This was my second movie with Christian, and it has always been a good experience with him. He is so dedicated to the craft. I think someone is begging to make some noise (controversy) about this, but I don't think it's fair. The art of acting is not paint by numbers, it's an art form."

Terminator Salvation Producer Defends Bale's 'Rant'
 

Jason Roer

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Reuben hit it right on the nose. In all fairness to Bale, DPs sometimes just aren't as attuned to actor's needs. I had a very similar experience on one of my sets and the actor nearly walked. It was I could do to settle the situation and calm everyone down.

Other then Bale's history with the DP, you also don't know what type of scene we're talking about here. It could have been a very tense scene in which case Bale could have been so wound up already that anything could have set him off. I really don't see this as diva behavior here. Walking off a set because you don't like the type of bottled water you've been offered - that's being a diva. You'll notice Bale wanted to get right back on with the scene - he probably knew the rage he was feeling could be channeled into a great performance.

Lastly - McG might have planted the DP there knowing that he and Bale had history in an effort to get some emotion going. As a director, you have to use everything you've got in your bag of tricks sometimes. And it can really pay off.

Cheers,

Jason
 

Ruz-El

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This sounds like a someone passionate about his craft who clearly got distracted. It also sounds like the DP was giving back some lip too, you just don't hear all of it since he's not as clearly miked. I don't blame Bale for getting pissed off. If the movie flops or the scene gets criticized, it's him that's going to take the heat for the performance. Films get sold on the ability of the actors, I'd get a bit yelly too if someone was messing up my job.
 

Michael Reuben

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And that's responsive because . . . ?

Note, BTW, that this incident is from July 2008. IOW, it's seven months old, but it's just surfacing now. Smells like a personal vendetta.
 

Lucia Duran

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Searching for it, but apparently Bale has a history of losing his temper on sets. I can't remember where I read it, but I recall reading that one of the cast of friends use to go off on the assistants on the set. They would yell over coffee to hot or not hot enough or for not bringing things out in a timely manner.

Obviously I don't know what the situations was on either Bales set or the friends set, but when there seems to be a history of it, it is diva behavior to me. Just my opinion.
 

Michael Elliott

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I posted this in the other thread but will do so here as well.

I'm a strong supporter of going off be it with cuss words or a middle finger. I personally can't blame anyone for getting "pissed" but there's a line you cross that's just downright wrong. Belittling someone like this in front of people just makes me cringe in embarrassment the DP must have been going through. He certainly took the high road by not reacting at all but then again, had Bale not been a movie star then I'm sure things would have gone differently. In fact, I've known some downright crazy nuts who are now in prison but I don't think they would have gone that far. It's obvious this guy is nuts so yeah, perhaps someone putting him in his place would help.

I wouldn't have mind had Bale thrown a fit, threw a few f-bombs and then went back to work. Going on and on and on like he did was just wrong.
 

KevinGress

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While I can fully accept that someone's out to tarnish Bale's rep, quite honestly, it should be tarnished for something like that. Please don't offer up - "well, we're starved for stars then we tear them down first chance we get" - that's excusing unprofessional and immature behavior.

So the guy ruined the shot - so what? Bale isn't professional enough to do it again? I can understand him being frustrated, even angry, but to carry it on THAT long is a lack of control. He should have yelled for a few seconds, finished the scene - then chewed the guy out in private, or gathering McG with the guy in question and settled it.

Accepting that sort of behavior is akin to accepting noise and other rudeness when watching films in the theater. Why is it so hard to expect others to keep themselves under control - whether it be in class, or in the theater, or at work, or when filming a movie?!
 

TravisR

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Yeah, it's either someone with an axe to grind or some loser who wants to tear down a celebrity because that's what people do now.

That being said, I don't know the context that the situation happened in but I can't imagine what could have happened that would make an outburst like that acceptable from a professional in a professional environment. They can't (and shouldn't) fire Bale from the movie over it but that guy needs to switch to decaf and mellow out if that's how he thinks he can treat people.
 

Lucia Duran

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I use to work in a restuarant where one of the partial owners use to go off on employees on a daily basis for no good reason. He just liked to show he had power and didn't care who he embarrassed in doing so. He was an ass. Everyone hated him. I remember him going off on an employee who parked in his space. She was new and didn't know there was assigned parking (there were no signs to speak of to let anyone know). He made her cry. It was awful.

And I agree that the whole " we love celebrity, yet tear celebs down at the drop of hat" argument is not a valid one. Celebrities should not get a free pass to treat others they way they are sometimes known to do, just because they are a celebrity. No one should get a free pass to treat people that way, I don't care who you are.
 

Ruz-El

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This is true. That said, I remember reading an article on the psychology of acting. It pretty much said that 90% of actors are mental cases, and they have to be in order to put themselves out there. They have a huge ego complex from the start. You see this on shows like AMERICAN IDOL, where people with no talent are genuinely shocked to be told this. While it's not right to go off on people like that, I'm not all that shocked when it happens in the entertainment business with actors. When it's the directors I get a bit more less forgiving. Their job is to be in control. An actors is to put human emotions on screen, I'm surprised more actors don't loose their cool.

The other thing we don't know, at least I don't know, is what happened the next day? There's a good chance Bale made peace with the guy.
 

Malcolm R

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It's the third sequel in a CG-heavy action franchise. I think the only one concerned about Bale's "acting" performance is Bale.

And perhaps he needs to improve his powers of concentration if he can be so easily thrown off by a crew member walking through the set off-camera.
 

Andy Sheets

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From what I understand, behavior like this is almost commonplace with regard to Hollywood film productions. The only reason people are talking about it is because we simply don't get to see it very often. I reminds me of the reaction to that footage awhile back of David O. Russell flipping his lid on set.
 

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