People are still talking about Christian Bale expletive-ridden rant on the set of Terminator: Salvation. The audio was recorded off of Christian’s mic during last year’s production, but only released this week. A producer stepped up to defend Christian, but other than that, most of the feedback has been condemnation for Bale.
Now Christian’s mom is speaking up. She says that she understands why Christian was angry that the lighting guy messed up Christian’s scene, but “not the length of the tirade.” She makes a few pointed remarks about the timeline of the incident – Christian’s on-set rant was around the same time he was in the incident with his mother and sister at a London hotel. The Daily Telegraph has more:
The actor lost his temper with a lighting engineer and let rip on the set of the Terminator film, admonishing the crew member with a foul mouthed tirade.
His mother Jenny Bale, 61, said that she now hopes this will help the public understand the incident last summer when she reported her son after he allegedly assaulted her.
The 35-year-old heart-throb was arrested after the incident at London’s Dorchester Hotel, but no action was taken.
After hearing her son’s recently broadcast outburst she said she understood why he was angry, but was unhappy that he had been so “fierce”.
Speaking from her home in Bournemouth, Dorset, Mrs Bale said: “I haven’t spoken to Christian about it, but I have listened to most of it and he was clearly very angry. He is a perfectionist and if you are doing an intense scene and someone is spoiling a shot, it takes time to get it back.”
“It sounds as if a lighting engineer got in the shot so I can understand his anger but not the length of the tirade. It happened in July when he was filming the Terminator and was before the incident with him and myself at the Batman premiere with all the publicity.”
“People might now realise that that is his temper, they might understand a bit more. I wish he hadn’t carried this on so long or so fiercely, it was upsetting to hear him.”
The rant, which has been defended by the film’s assistant editor Bruce Franklin, has now been turned into a dance tune by DJ Revolution and can be heard on the internet.
Bale began his career at the age of 12 when he took the lead in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun
His parents, Jenny and David, split up when he was 13. Four years later, Bale joined his father in America.
His mother, and sisters Sharon and Louise, remained in the UK. His mother works as a therapist and lives in the Southbourne area of Bournemouth.
From The Daily Telegraph
Oh, Lord, his mother is a therapist? That does not bode well for either Christian’s anger issues or his mother’s quality as a therapist. If his mother is taking the long view, I suppose she has been vindicated. Now everyone knows exactly how intemperate Bale is, and people are going back to last year‘s incident with new eyes. There’s a rumor that the audio was released to pre-emptively take down Terminator: Salvation in the hopes of boosting up Transformers 2, but I doubt it. Someone was probably saving it just to publicly shame Christian Bale, no matter the timing.
Christian Bale is shown outside a restaurant on 7/29/08. Credit: WENN
LOL… Bale isn’t the first hot headed, bad tempered, foul mouthed actor and he isn’t the last! I’m surprised at the publicity this has received, honestly, celebrities who actually hit people don’t get this much press for it!
@ the mother. Some of us also know what it’s like to deal with alcoholics, dearie, the two incidents may or may not be linked, but no-body made you listen to the tape nor did they make you com. zment to the press in an effort to drum up sympathy ahead of any court case that may come out of your fight with your son last year.
I’m not excusing his behaviour, but families are complicated things and no outsider can really get a proper grip of the dynamics especially the bastions of ethics that read gossip blogs.
*comment to the press
‘Therapist’ doesn’t have the immediate connotations of psychiatry in the UK. She could be a physical therapist, helping people recover after injuries. As the Daily Telegraph thinks of itself as high-brow, I think if she was a counsellor, they would have said so, and not used the word therapist.
jeez, does his mom even have to speak out against him? what a sweetheart… serial killers get more support…
i’m not defending christian bale… i’m just saying most mothers would probably come out with excuses on their child’s behalf… not add fuel to the fire…
the tape is hilarious though… i can see why it’s becoming popular… “ahhhh da da da da like this in the background” hahahahahaha
Well, now I know why I found him so very convincing in “American Psycho.”
Have any of you listened to the dance tune? It’s great!
i dont get the big deal, i say fuck multiple times a day. Give it a rest, so the man was pissed off or something who cares…. id still hit that till it broke off.
He was making a movie not a nuclear bomb. Bale is an abusive tyrant and the tape just confirms it.
But for the length of the tirade it looks like i’m in the minority Bale camp. We don’t have much insight into the context surrounding the outburst. Who the hell (with half a brain anyway) walks onto a set when cameras are rolling to fix a fricking light? Lighting can be edited, acting in an emotional scene cannot be, it has to be done again. Christian was right on a lot of points. He may have been a little over the top in his delivery. I’m sure there have been multiple actors who have exploded yet haven’t had audio tapes released. I’m also guessing there are plenty of actors who belittle crew and assistants on a daily basis that has a more damaging effect on the person. We all need to chill out (including Bale it seems) and enjoy the Bale/O’Reilly piece currently on youtube!
Okay Christian’s mom, I know you probably wanted to speak out to get some public affirmation that yes, the incident this summer did happen but what is your brief, ‘see, told ya so’, vindication gonna do for your relationship with your son?
I don’t see what the fuss is about. Someone was messing with the lights when they had been instructed not to during certain scenes, or all scenes possibly. He blew up. Everyone is saying that the recording was during the events of his mother and sister doing the shady business.
I get like that sometimes too so I’m guessing I’m an abusive tyrant too. Only I’m so lucky that I don’t get recorded.
Mairead: “@ the mother. Some of us also know what it’s like to deal with alcoholics, dearie”
god, sooooooo true.
When she came out with her “charges,” all I could think was “opportunist piece of crap”. She reeks of something fishy. Not excusing his behavior, just saying, who would come out with a statement on this? Espeically his mother. Reminds me of something john Voight would do for publicity.
As an actor, I can relate, especially if it was an intense/emotional scene. It wasn’t the first time the other guy distracted CB. Displaced anger maybe, whatever, I’m totally TEAM BALE.
And I agree w/ Emily — the dance remix ROCKS!!
I especially appreciate how mom and sis agreed with the Crown prosecutors that no charges should be filed. They asked for privacy as it was “a family matter”.
Now she’s mouthing off. I’d say that someone’s looking for another payoff…
I listened to the audio, honestly, it’s not that bad.
As for being a therapist and giving this woman any cred, remember Nicole Kidman and Courteny Love’s fathers are both psychiatrists.
Wow, what a supportive & understanding mother
Presumably, Bryce Howard Dallas, the actress working with Bale, also had to go to a “dark place” for this incredibly emotionally fraught scene (so pivotal to the film), yet we don’t hear her humiliating the photographer in front of his peers, as Bale did. It’s called “ego trip,” people. I’d guess he demoralized the whole set and surely rattled his co-star, if not outright intimidating her.
She is no better than Michael Lohan trying to get sympathy for capitalizing off their kid’s fame. Nice that she was gone so long out of his life then came back when he was rich and successful to cash in.
I don’t think his tirade was all that bad. I heard the tone of his voice. He wasn’t furious, just spent and aggravated and kept trying to get his point across to the one who screwed up. Excessive? Yes. He’s always played a crazy person well. Now I know why.
And the Welsh accent coming out, made me like him even more. Does that make me sick? lol
I had a feeling this was coming, his mother and an “I told you so” comment after she had it out with him last summer. Shaddup already, mom.
omg the things i would do to that man!!!!!!
he makes me want him even more…
Glad the MOM spoke up against HER SON! That’s right folks, HER SON. She can say whatever the fuck she wants to say about HER SON.
Apparently Bale has a pattern of uncontrollable anger. he needs help for it. I predict he’ll be on teh talk show circuit apologizing in no time. So predictable. Some actors can get away with act like a douchie jerk, then beg public forgiveness.
I so advocate watching movies online. FOR FREE.
Glad the MOM spoke up against HER SON! That’s right folks, HER SON. She can say whatever she wants to say about HER SON. SHE BIRTHED HIM. Some kids need to stay in their lane.
Apparently Bale has a pattern of uncontrollable anger. he needs help for it. I predict he’ll be on the talk show circuit apologizing in no time. So predictable. Some actors can get away with act like a douchie jerk, then beg public forgiveness.
I so advocate watching movies online. FOR FREE.
Two words.
Method.
Actor.
‘Nuff said. Those who get it, get it.
He’s so crazy & from now on i’m not going to watch any of his movies who does he think he is? doen’t he know * The Dark knight* did good because of Heath Ledger it’s about time he comes down from his high horses btw with all the money he has why doen’t he get rid of that ugly & disgusting mole, what is a wife good for?
@ Ironhead
Two word: Enraged assh0le.
Those who don’t make excuses, “get it”.
This guy takes himself way too seriously
actually christina, her commenst wern’t entirely against her son. she said she understood his anger but was upset at the length of it, which i think is pretty fair. she could have just said he’s being completely out of order but she didn’t.
People are making so many excuses for Bale. If this had been a tape of the lighting guy going off on Bale he’d already have been fired and the public would be coddling Bale.
Here’s the bottom line, I’ve been on both sides of this work related anger and the reality is that it doesn’t achieve anything. It doesn’t solve the problem, it only creates more resentment.
i am wondering if anyone remembers Alec Baldwin going off on his DAUGHTER–yet now everyone loves him and 30 Rock (which i don’t think is even that amazing). So even though people may try to make Bale out to be “that guy,” if he keeps making popular stuff, no one will give a shit. imho.
BatThumb was a method actor too. Wow, what a coincidink.
Alec is a great actor and extremely funny, but no one has excused him for what he did to his daughter.
I don’t rate him very highly as a human being.
I’m still wanting the exact context before I condemn Bale because seriously if he was in the middle of an intense scene, third take, drawing emotions that are a real strain to draw on, and then had to go to a mental place he didn’t really want to stay in – and then a member of the crew who should be know better, wandered on set and killed the take – I have to say I might just flip out too. Not for four minutes like he did but I’m sure I’d want to choke a bitch, at least.
Also, depends if the guy had made other mistakes and they’d just let it go before that.
If it was the first incident and he just flipped then I’d still need context.
He’s been too low key for too long to be thrown under a bus immediately, I’d like to know what was causing all the sudden antagonism in his life. If it’s something else, it’ll come out eventually. And if it’s anger issues it WILL happen again.
I’m on the fence until it does.
i think his mother should stop talking to the press. seems like whenever family members do this it is to get a little attention for themselves, like angelina’s father or lohan’s parents.
I can’t help but wonder how different the comments would be if you replaces Christian Bale with, say, Rob Lowe in this story. Or Robert Downey Jr. Or *gasp* Brad Pitt.
don’t normally comment on celebrity blogs, but it truly seems odd to me this person’s behavior is excused. I can’t imagine a female actress being so quickly exonerated by the internet hoi pilloi
@ Kate-Christian’s MOM can say whatever she wants. She has every right. She is HIS parent, not HIS friend. Geez, people of truly f’ed up saying the mom should back off. No respect whatsoever.