Harry Knowles Is Firmly 'Team Bale,' Former Assistant 'Team People-Bale-Screams-At'
Ain't It Cool News fanboy oracle Harry Knowles refuses to post the Christian Bale rant, but goes on at some length today on why he chose to side with the mercurial action star.
Working off insider knowledge of what happened that fateful day on the Salvation set (we think?: "I know this because I happen to be somewhere where someone that was there that day and for the shoot is"), Knowles goes on to explain that DP Shane Hurlbut is a "light tweaker"— but not in the Andy Dick sense:
He's a fairly young DP and likes to fiddle with his lights on set during action, which is a big "NO NO" on most productions unless worked out in advance with performers...The scene in question, was a very emotional and tough scene between Christian Bale and Bryce Howard. A scene that required soul bearing and a deep level of immersive concentration...a painful scene with Bryce, what was described to me as being the emotional center of the film and his character for the film. [...]
Now, the reason I know all of this is because the person that was there, felt that it should be made perfectly clear that Christian Bale was the utmost gentleman and cool guy on set. And the DP really was doing something that professional DPs with experience just don't do. Not during a performance.
Thankfully, this stinging indictment doesn't lead into a personal recollection of the time Knowles was beaten with a butter-churn for not molesting his sister.
As persuasive as that was, we now present a witness for the prosecution, who paints quite a different picture. Former Bale assistant Harrison Cheung spoke to Inside Edition about his former boss:
Cheung: He's got a very bad temper….I think he can be extremely hot-headed…you know, he's over 6-1 and he could be very intimidating… Christian is a very prickly professional... He was always very deep in thought and he didn't wanna be disturbed. And if he heard any unusual noises or if someone asked him to move around too many times, you could tell he was getting irritated. The big "Do Not Disturb" sign was on his forehead.
IE’s Les Trent: Are you concerned that your talking will be seen as a betrayal to him?
Harrison Cheung: I've been loyal to Christian for a long time, and when he and I worked together I kept that trust. I no longer work with him so it's a different situation now.
Yes, we'd imagine he doesn't. If a light tweaker gets that kind of verbal dressing down, we can only imagine what the personal assistant who sells you out to Inside Edition has waiting for him upon his morning latte delivery.