Christian Bale arrives for the London premiere of ‘Amsterdam’ on September 21. (Vianney LeCaer/Invision/Associated Press)
Christian Bale shared his side of the ‘American Hustle’ drama between Amy Adams and director David O. Russell, nine years after the Oscar-winning film premiered.
In GQ’s November cover story, published Wednesday, the Oscar winner recalled trying to keep the peace while on the set of “American Hustle,” where Adams said she had a falling out with director Russell.
“If I can understand where it’s coming from, then I’m trying to be more of a go-between,” the Batman actor said. “It’s just my nature to try to say, ‘Hey, come on, let’s go and sit down and find out. There has to be a way to make this all work.’”
Six years ago, Adams told Britain’s GQ that the Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook director made her cry while she was on American Hustle. Adding to her conflict with Russell, Adams said she learned through an email hack at Sony that she was being paid less than her male co-stars, including Bale.
“I was really devastated on set,” Adams told British GQ.
The Sony hack also revealed that Bale told the director to “stop acting like an A—” while filming American Hustle. On Wednesday, he not only confirmed he was filling in for Adams, but also said that given Adams and Russell’s “crazy creative talent” it was inevitable “there’s going to be trouble.”
However, Adams wasn’t the only star to speak out against Russell and his toxic behavior on set. George Clooney claimed in 2000 that Russell yelled at and humiliated some of the people on his Three Kings set, including a dolly driver and a screenwriter.
Then, in 2004, a video from the set of “I Heart Huckabees” showed Russell arguing with star Lily Tomlin, who was complaining about a “barrage of change” and kicking props while yelling profanities at Tomlin. In 2015, TMZ reported that Russell and Jennifer Lawrence had a heated conversation on the set of “Joy.”
Bale told GQ that his time as “mediator” on American Hustle won’t spoil his review of the film.
The story goes on
“You’re f— phenomenal,” he said of the director and his former co-star. “Also, you have to remember that it was also the nature of the character. Right? These characters weren’t people who would shy away from anything, were they?”
When asked what he thought about getting involved in American Hustle, Bale said, “I did what I thought was appropriate, in a very Irv style,” referring to his American Hustle. -Character Irving Rosenfeld, based on the con man Melvin Weinberg.
Russell’s demeanor has come back into the limelight with the release of his latest film Amsterdam, which stars Bale. The cast also includes Margot Robbie, John David Washington and Taylor Swift.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.