“I enjoy it that way”: Christian Bale Kept His Distance from Johnny Depp for a Strange Reason After His Explosive Rant in $371M Movie Went Viral

Christian Bale is known for his deep-rooted method acting skill and turns out that while working with Johnny Depp, that exact factor meddled between the two actors’ friendship on set.

While collaborating on Public Enemies, Bale intentionally kept his interactions with the Pirates of the Caribbean star at a minimum due to the influence of his character’s dynamic with Depp’s character.

While subsequent news might have contained plenty of spice, none could surpass the impact of Bale’s outburst on the set of Terminator Salvation, which had garnered significant attention in its own right, especially on the internet.

Christian Bale

Why Christian Bale “enjoyed” Not Interacting with Johnny Depp on Public Enemies Set

Christian Bale‘s remarkable knack for immersing himself in the personas he portrays is why numerous actors envy him.

While delving into method acting is undeniably challenging, it’s precisely where this actor thrives.

This journey has proven to be both a boon and a bane for him, yet he consistently amazes his fans.

Given their roles of him and Johnny Depp were rivals in Public Enemies, Bale believed that maintaining a certain distance between them would actually help him nail the character. He said,

“I didn’t want to talk unless it was while we were doing a scene, I enjoy it that way,” 

(L to R) Special Agent Melvin Purvis (CHRISTIAN BALE) confronts Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (JOHNNY DEPP) in the action-thriller Public Enemies

However, Bale openly acknowledged his preference for maintaining a professional demeanor in his interactions with Depp, a stance that Depp appeared to be unfazed by and was on the same page with Bale. He continued saying,

“Johnny seemed happy to do it that way, too, so I guess the answer is no, we really didn’t get to know each other better between takes.”

Although it may have seemed rude at first, his sheer talent convinced Depp, that Bale held no grudges against the actor but it was his passion for acting and his dedication to his job that led him to avoid Johnny Depp on set.

Christian Bale’s Viral Rant on Terminator Salvation Set

During the filming of a scene in New Mexico in July 2008 for Terminator Salvation, an audio recording of Christian Bale’s on-set angry rant directed at the film’s cinematographer, Shane Hurlbut, was recorded and surfaced publicly in February 2009, just a few months prior to the movie’s theater debut.

The recording, which was evidently made without Bale’s awareness, captured his outburst as he expressed his frustration with Hurlbut for walking onto the set to inspect a light.

Although Hurlbut was seeming very apologetic in the recording, the actor did not back off and threatened to quit.

Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation

Since then the actor has apologized for his crass behavior and revealed there is no bad blood between the two anymore, but the public refuses to buy that story since the two have not since come together to collaborate on any project.

The news garnered a huge amount of media attention. Although the movie was forgettable, this viral recording kept it alive in the minds of thousands of fans on the internet.