Christian Bale Claims He Acted As A Mediator Between Amy Adams And David O. Russell On The “American Hustle” Set

October 6, 2022 / Posted by:

Christian Bale covers this month’s GQ to promote his latest flick, Amsterdam, directed by David O. Russell (31% on Rotty-Ts). This is the third time 48-year-old Christian’s been directed by 64-year-old David; he previously starred in The Fighter and American Hustle. The GQ interviewer brings up the claims that David’s behavior on the American Hustle set caused Amy Adams a lot of turmoil and tears. Christian confirms there was on-set drama, and that he acted as the “mediator” between actress and director. It was such a mess that Christian “STAY OFF THE FUCKING SET, MAN!!!” Bale had to play peacekeeper.

Details about Amy’s experience during the making of 2013’s American Hustle emerged in the great Sony Email Leak of 2014. Journalist Jonathan Alter wrote the following to his brother-in-law, then-Sony CEO Michael Lynton:

“Are you guys doing anything else with him? I know he’s brilliant but we have someone on our show who worked closely with him on ‘American Hustle’ and not only are the stories about him reforming himself total bullshit but the new stories of his abuse and lunatic behavior are extreme even by Hollywood standards.”

“He grabbed one guy by the collar, cursed out people repeatedly in front of others and so abused Amy Adams that Christian Bale got in his face and told him to stop acting like an asshole.”

In 2016, Amy addressed the allegations in an interview with British GQ, via the Hollywood Reporter:

Russell “was hard on me, that’s for sure,” describing the experience as “a lot” and one that not only made her cry but also saw her going home from work “devastated” on “most days.” It was an experience, at the time, that made her pass on wanting to work with him again “in the near future” and likely not “unless the role is less damaged and there’s a way to mitigate the insanity” after that.

“Even I was surprised on American Hustle, because on [his previous film] Silver Linings Playbook he had developed this wild, crazy way of working with Bradley [Cooper] and Jennifer [Lawrence] … and it was mania. I was like: wow,” Adams said. “It really taught me how to separate work and home. Because I was like, I cannot bring this experience home with me to my daughter.”

Obviously, Christian Bale is over his drama with David, because he’s still working with him. The interviewer brings up that “David is well known for having difficult sets,” and asks Christian about his experience:

If I can have some sense of understanding of where it’s coming from, then I do tend to attempt to be a mediator. That’s just in my nature, to try to say, “Hey, come on, let’s go and sit down and figure that out. There’s gotta be a way of making this all work.”

Then they ask Christian about the reports that he intervened on Amy Adam’s behalf, and told David to back off. Christian just nodded his head and replied, “Mediator.” Christian is then asked if that experience makes him feel different about the completed film. He answers:

No. No, no, no. No. You’re dealing with two such incredible talents there. No, I don’t let that get in the way whatsoever. Look, if I feel like we got anywhere close—and you only ever get somewhere close to achieving; our imagination is too incredible to ever entirely achieve it—but if you get anywhere close to it, and when you’re working with people of the crazy creative talent of Amy or of David, there are gonna be upsets. But they are fucking phenomenal. Also, you got to remember, it was the nature of the characters as well. Right? Those characters were not people who back down from anything, right?

But Christian says that the interviewer shouldn’t let Amy’s experience ruin their enjoyment while re-watching American Hustle. He says that comes directly from Amy herself. Great! Instead, I’ll let Louis C.K.’s involvement ruin my re-watching experience.

Christian also discussed his recent role in Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder. He confirms that he didn’t bother trying to use his usual Method acting technique on the set:

That would’ve been a pitiful attempt to do that. As I’m trying to get help getting the fangs in and out and explaining I’ve broken a nail, or I’m tripping over the tunic.

He adds that Thor was his first time doing the whole “green-screen acting” thing, and he said “the definition of it is monotony”:

You’ve got good people. You’ve got other actors who are far more experienced at it than me. Can you differentiate one day from the next? No. Absolutely not. You have no idea what to do. I couldn’t even differentiate one stage from the next. They kept saying, “You’re on Stage Three.” Well, it’s like, “Which one is that?” “The blue one.” They’re like, “Yeah. But you’re on Stage Seven.” “Which one is that?” “The blue one.” I was like, “Uh, where?”

So, basically, Christian is subtweeting Jared Leto, who went method for superhero movies like Suicide Squad and Morbius (where he pretended to be disabled in between takes). I live in Toronto, where they shot Suicide Squad, and many people I know have Joker-Jared stories from 2015. One evening, a buddy of mine was taking a peaceful walk through the park, when a green-haired Jared flew by on his bike, shrieking into the night. Joker-Jared also attended a comedy show and remained in character the entire time, complete with the Joker’s maniacal cackle. Can you imagine Joker-Jared as an improv audience member? “Hey folks, can we get a suggestion of something you’d give a friend on their birthday?” “A dead rat stuffed in a used condom!” “Ummm, I think I heard, ‘scented candle’?”

Pic: GQ

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