Christian Bale's apology

Marcus Joseph · February 7, 2009

After seeing numerous news headlines and dozens of spoofs and comedic material and even some celebrities defending his tirade to the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Darren Aronofsky and even Ron Howard. This is the first actual response from the man himself. Which also makes me wonder if Shane Halburt will ever talk.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20090206/en_movies_eo/98799

Marcus Joseph · February 7, 2009

The apology recorded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXU71ktOPTA

Brad Grimmett · February 7, 2009

Which also makes me wonder if Shane Halburt will ever talk.

I doubt you'll hear from Shane on this. And his last name is Hurlbut by the way.

Mike Lary · February 7, 2009

Which also makes me wonder if Shane Halburt will ever talk.

I don't see why he would feel the need to. Bale admitted that his actions were inexcusable, that he was acting insane, and that he had lost touch with reality. He took full responsibility for the incident.

edit: If you're seeing a blue hyperlink on the word 'acting', the server put it there.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Mike Lary

Marcus Joseph · February 8, 2009

I doubt you'll hear from Shane on this. And his last name is Hurlbut by the way.

Thanks for correcting.

I don't see why he would feel the need to. Bale admitted that his actions were inexcusable, that he was acting insane, and that he had lost touch with reality. He took full responsibility for the incident.

edit: If you're seeing a blue hyperlink on the word 'acting', the server put it there.

True, but it still makes me wonder if his reputation amongst other directors and producers will be tarnished at all.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Marcus Johnston

monday sunnlinn · February 8, 2009

only if T4 tanks at the box office...

:-)

Chris Keth · February 8, 2009

Which also makes me wonder if Shane Halburt will ever talk.

I can't imagine he would. He knows the power of gossip in this business. If I were him, I would just let people forget it.

Scott Pelzel · February 8, 2009

I doubt if Shane will make any kind of statement either as Bale already admitted he was out of line, so what purpose would it serve really?

I worked with Shane some years back on a few projects here in NYC and he is originally from upstate New York and he grew up on a farm.

He is one of the nicest and most down to earth guys I have ever worked with in this business, but these are the guys that usually get the brunt of tempers like Bale's. I have worked with DP's who would have probably given Bale a good tongue lashing back (I won't mention names here), but it did not surprise me that Shane kept his cool from my experience working with him as he is a professional to answer Bale's question in his tirade.

-Scott

Jamie Metzger · February 9, 2009

- christian bale as david after the dentist. Very funny.

Jim Carlile · February 9, 2009

Hey guys, exactly what in the world does Bale have to apologize for? The technician was a schmuck-- it should be HE who is apologizing !

Have any of you folks ever worked on a movie set?-- outbursts happen all the time. What planet are you living on? Sometimes it even results in good work.

This whole thing is ridiculous-- all these public "apologies" now to people who don't deserve them or have nothing to do with the situation. It's phony and sanctimonious. Bale did nothing wrong, really, and when I first heard the tape I couldn't believe what a phony issue this was. Bale was right, too-- the guy deserved to be chewed out.

It's like Michael Phelps "apologizing" for smoking pot. Just what's going on here with all this self-righteousness? And whatever happened to stoicism?

Jim Carlile · February 9, 2009

P.S. Here's the lowdown on what REALLY happened on that set:

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/the-truth-behind...s-blow-up/18467

Nothing worse than a DP tweaking while shooting. They're not the stars. Is anybody really going to criticize Bale now? Why was the director allowing this kind of disruption the first place?

You know guys, in the old days, not only would someone like "Duke" Wayne blow up at a jerky DP, they'd be off the set within the hour.

DS Williams · February 9, 2009

P.S. Here's the lowdown on what REALLY happened on that set:

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/the-truth-behind...s-blow-up/18467

Nothing worse than a DP tweaking while shooting. They're not the stars. Is anybody really going to criticize Bale now? Why was the director allowing this kind of disruption the first place?

You know guys, in the old days, not only would someone like "Duke" Wayne blow up at a jerky DP, they'd be off the set within the hour.

Shane had no respect for what was going on. He strolled right through the scene. Such a dicky move.

I would never adjust ANYTHING major during an emotional take. I respect actors, I do my job BEFORE the camera roles, and let them do their job after action is c

Jim Hyslop · February 9, 2009

Hey guys, exactly what in the world does Bale have to apologize for?

Have you listened to the recording? I mean really listened, and analyzed what was being said and what was going on? Y'know, if Bale was a nobody in a regular workplace, and made the same outburst, he would be out of work and facing assault charges. You can clearly hear at one point in the audio that he is chasing after Hurlbut. That meets the definition of assault, even if he never actually touched Hurlbut.

Yes, outbursts happen on set, but Bale's reaction was far more than a simple outburst. Like the Energizer bunny, he kept going and going, belittling and embarrassing Hurlbut for his mistake, even after Hurlbut tried to apologize several times and explain why he was moving around. I don't care what Hurlbut did (or didn't do), nobody deserves to be treated like that.

And what exactly did Hurlbut do? The link you posted was a rehash of a second-hand account, related several months after the incident, and as such must be taken with a grain of salt. When you get down to it, the only accurate information available to us is the audio clip, and even that's incomplete because it starts in the middle of the tirade.

We keep reading that "Hurlbut walked on set and tweaked a light while shooting." Nowhere in the audio clip do either of them talk about Hurlbut actually walking on set, or actually adjusting lights. If you listen closely, you can clearly hear Bale saying that Hurlbut was "moving around in the background" - that does not necessarily mean he was on the set. It could easily mean he was moving around behind the camera, probably in Bale's eyeline (which I think we've all acknowledged is a gross violation of set etiquette). Even the director said "I didn't see anything," so Hurlbut was certainly not on-camera. When Bale pressed Hurlbut for an explanation of what he was doing, Hurlbut said "I was looking at the lights." LOOKING at - not adjusting. If he had been adjusting the lights, I'm sure Bale would have said something about him "f**ing with the lights", not "moving around in the background."

Bottom line is, it sounds like whatever Hurlbut did, it's been blown out of proportion. If he was moving around within Bale's eyeline or adjusting lights, then he certainly deserved to be chewed out, but not to the extent that actually happened. At least, that's this Monday-morning quarterback's view of things.

Actually, the real bottom line is that we are all playing "Monday-morning quarterback" here, and really should refrain from offering any further opinions if we weren't actually on set and witnessed what happened.

Can we drop this now, and get back to making films and discussing cinematography?

--

Jim

DS Williams · February 9, 2009

Very good post Jim.

What's said was said, there's no changing it, and apologies have been given. It's over, so lets get out and shoot.

Greg Traw · February 9, 2009

'The harder they come the harder they fall...'

Hollywood (and human nature in general) seems to thrive on this kind of attitude. When someone makes someone else loads of cash any kind of behavior -- no matter how insolent -- is accepted, even encouraged; as a result, this makes the individual believe it's their God-given right to act and parade around like a schmuck. Then the cash stops flowing -- usually abruptly -- and the passive-aggressive hoards have their feeding frenzy. (i.e. Personal assistants snub phones and laugh with each other from across a sea of office cubicles.)

I'm just wonder who's going to be cackling when Bale stops pumping the box office numbers? B)

K Borowski · February 9, 2009

Hey guys, exactly what in the world does Bale have to apologize for? The technician was a schmuck-- it should be HE who is apologizing !
Have any of you folks ever worked on a movie set?-- outbursts happen all the time. What planet are you living on? Sometimes it even results in good work.

This whole thing is ridiculous-- all these public "apologies" now to people who don't deserve them or have nothing to do with the situation. It's phony and sanctimonious. Bale did nothing wrong, really, and when I first heard the tape I couldn't believe what a phony issue this was. Bale was right, too-- the guy deserved to be chewed out.

It's like Michael Phelps "apologizing" for smoking pot. Just what's going on here with all this self-righteousness? And whatever happened to stoicism?

First off, Mr. Hurlbut isn't a "technician" he is the **(obscenity removed)**ing DP.

Second, what's with all this "star" stuff? Because Bale makes an ass-ton of money, and is a "star", he is a god, and his DP is a **(obscenity removed)**ing pauper?

Do you still have a class system up in Canada or something?

Come on, does Shane Hurlbut have the right to turn around and flip out and rant at Christian Bale whenever he misses a line, or doesn't follow his blocking instructions, or steps out of frame, or out of the throw of one of the lights?

Just because the actors are the most visible part of a production, doesn't make them the most important. Were I in this position, getting fired for it aside, I would very seriously consider walking off the set and telling him to set his own **(obscenity removed)**ing lights if I were ever treated in such a condescending fashion.

Long hours aside, Bale was WAY out of line for the way he treated Mr. Hurlbut.

Mark Williams · February 9, 2009

I don't know because I wasn't there but I'm going to have a guess at this.

Everything is riding on Christian Bales performance in a difficult pivotal scene. His mind is completley absorbed into the part. His mindset is the character and his focus, in the moment. As the cameras roll and he delivers his best performance suddenly someone starts twitching the lights.. An ongoing situation breaks through into his acted reality BOOOOM It's gone. He is back in the real world. The realization hits that not only is this climactic moment of his ability ruined but also when he acts this again Hes going to be bought back to reality by the thought its going to happen again. SO the point needs driving home utterly and completley for the sake of the film the crew and everyone else. Maybe then he can give the performance the film needs. If everyone though turns on him as a diva then might as well throw in the towel. An actor needs total trust and confidence in the crew.

This is not about normal workplace attitudes this is about an actor wanting to give his very best with the pressure of the entire film riding on him. I think we should let them do what they need to do without passing judgement at all.

Actors can often seem aloof and up themselves maybe some are but for many they may be living the role and concentrating. A hurt feeling that demands the actor break his concentration could lead to disaster for the movie. When an actor walks onto the set he is that character trying to focus and not be distracted. Everything should be done to help the actor give the best performance after all its everyones jobs and future riding on it.

Scott Pelzel · February 9, 2009

P.S. Here's the lowdown on what REALLY happened on that set:

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/the-truth-behind...s-blow-up/18467

Nothing worse than a DP tweaking while shooting. They're not the stars. Is anybody really going to criticize Bale now? Why was the director allowing this kind of disruption the first place?

You know guys, in the old days, not only would someone like "Duke" Wayne blow up at a jerky DP, they'd be off the set within the hour.

You are taking information from the Yahoo entertainment gossip page? WTF? None of us were there, so it is difficult to assess the situation objectively, but I have worked with Shane before and he is no different than any other DP including myself. We all tweak our lights when we have the spare moment and there is nothing wrong with that as that is what we do. If the scene was that intense, the Director should have taken control of the set and made sure that Bale wasn't going to be disturbed while he was in his mode. In my opinion, the Director lost control of his set and that is bad. No matter who Bale is, the Director is the boss and he should have nipped this situation in the bud, but he was powerless as evident in the audio of the situation.

Also, the comment that Shane is a young DP in the article is a stupid comment. He is in his 40's and he has shot quite a few features and tons of commercials, plus, he his 10 years the senior of Christian Bale. I would call Shane an experienced DP who was just doing what we all do. His job.

I think from listening to the audio of the situation, it is Bale who was the immature one or the young one.

Yeah, blow-ups happen on sets all the time, (actually, it has a been rare on the projects I have been involved, but it has happened, although, nothing like this.), however, I don't really think there was much justification for Bale to have a 4 minute tirade on something that could have been solved in less than half that time and the Director should have taken more control in my opinion.

Serge Teulon · February 9, 2009

I think that Bale's apology was true and he sincerely seems to understand that he disrespected and behaved appallingly towards Shane.

Surely its time to move on. eh?

K Borowski · February 10, 2009

I think that Bale's apology was true and he sincerely seems to understand that he disrespected and behaved appallingly towards Shane.

Surely its time to move on. eh?

I thnik it is true so much that he sincerely wants the public to forget what an ass he was to his poor DP. I will move on, but I remain unchanged in my opinion.