Christian Bale won’t work with Terminator Salvation director McG again

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I think it's safe to say Christian Bale didn't have a great time while working on TERMINATOR SALVATION. Besides having a meltdown on the set after the director of photography for the movie ruined his concentration during a scene, the actor also broke his hand punching a Terminator prop. Bale later apologized for his angry tirade, but somehow I doubt he'll be saying he's sorry to director McG anytime soon for the comments he made about the filmmaker during a Q&A with Andrew Goldman from the Wall Street Journal.

AG: I read that when you first sat down with the director of that film, McG, you told him that nothing you’d seen in his filmography suggested that he had what it takes to do that movie.

CB: Right.

AG: That’s brutal. Directors have egos.

CB: Ah, yes. Yeah. But he goes, “Give me a chance. Everyone needs to evolve, and I need to turn over a new leaf. And please, you must’ve been in this position before yourself, when someone has taken a leap of faith on you,”— which I have—“please do that for me now; I promise you, I’m ready for it.”

AG: So what do you think, having given him a chance?

CB: (Pause) There’s a lot of room for many approaches and many characters within the film industry. I won’t be working with him again, but I wish him very well. Okay?

Ouch. Bale goes on to criticize George Clooney for complaining about celebrity privacy and the paparazzi, although Bale does the exact same thing later in the Q&A. He also talks about looking disappointed when he didn't win an Oscar last year for AMERICAN HUSTLE and almost losing his AMERICAN PSYCHO role to Leonardo DiCaprio while speaking with WSJ, and if you're interested, you can check out the full interview here.

Christian Bale can be seen next in Ridley Scott's EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS on December 12, 2014.