The notoriously intense Christian Bale is supposed to scare you, not make you laugh.
“It’s so inexpensive at the Four Seasons,” he muses sarcastically, perusing the menu at the swank spot known for its decadent food and even more decadent prices. “That’s the great thing about it. They’re feeling the (economic) pressure, so we have to help them. I ordered a cup of tea this morning, and it was like $30.”
The Batman star, 35, understands that people might be wary of him. He has made headlines more for his off-screen actions than on-screen talents lately. First, there was that murky incident last summer with his mother and sister in London, when he was arrested and questioned by police but no charges were brought. Then that expletive-laden rant from the set of Terminator Salvation that leaked online â and spread like wildfire.
With Terminator opening this week and Public Enemies following this summer, Bale knows he can’t hide. The actor won’t discuss his family â including wife Sibi and a daughter, 4, whose name he has never released â in an effort to protect their privacy. He wishes the focus could stay on his work, but he gets why it doesn’t. He makes no excuses for his on-set tirade and addresses the incident in polite tones, thoughtfully, sounding more than a little conflicted about his predicament.
“I just hope it will go away, after a little bit of time. I hope I’m not naĂŻve in thinking that’s possible. I don’t want to be a part of it. I can’t seem to navigate a way of doing that, of actually telling the truth of events that happened without feeling I’m encouraging the whole gossip notion.”
He suggests that there’s a back story to the incident that remains to be told â but he’s not going to be the one to tell it.
“Much as I say I try to ignore it, I can’t help but feel disturbed by the complete lack of desire by most people to actually look into the details and find out the truth. Maybe that’s partly me, because I don’t divulge it. I don’t talk about the truth of the incident.
“I have a principle that privacy is privacy, no matter if people are telling me, ‘Hey, you really should say something.’ ⊠I’ve got a lot of people telling me I’m doing the wrong thing. But I feel I have to stick to what I believe.”
‘Terminator’ was a tough sell
In Terminator Salvation (opening tonight in some markets and nationwide Thursday), he drops bombs of a different kind as John Connor, the resistance leader who battles a seemingly indestructible army of terminators in the not-so-distant apocalyptic future. It’s an unexpected career move for Bale, an actor known for blue-chip features such as the Batman films and the Western3:10 to Yuma. Indeed, when McG, who directed the Charlie’s Angels flicks, approached Bale about resurrecting Connor, Bale’s response was negative. Read the rest of this entry »
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