Christian Bale Will Never Work with McG Again
After starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, I thought it was weird that Christian Bale went off to play John Connor in Terminator: Salvation, which was directed by McG (Charlie’s Angeles). It didn’t seem like the right kind of match-up. Apparently, Bale didn’t have the best experience working with the director, and in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor talks about why he initially took the role. He also says he’ll never work with McG again. Here’s how this part of the conversation went down in the interview:
WSJ: 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.
CHRISTIAN BALE: Right.
WSJ: That’s brutal. Directors have egos.
CHRISTIAN BALE: 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.”
WSJ: So what do you think, having given him a chance?
CHRISTIAN BALE: (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?
Okay! As you may recall, this is the movie in which Bale had a major meltdown on the set. One thing McG seems to be good at is talking people into things and getting them excited. Unfortunately, he’s never really done anything to get crazy excited about. I think we all learned a lot about McG after Terminator: Salvation.