Christian Bale shared his side of the drama ‘American Hustle’ 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-winning actor recalled trying to keep the peace during his time on the set of “American Hustle,” where Adams said she had bumped heads with director Russell.
“If I have any idea where it’s coming from, I tend to try to be a mediator,” said the Batman actor. “It’s just in my nature, to try to say, ‘Hey, come on, let’s sit down and figure that out. There’s got to be a way to make all of this work.'”
Six years ago, Adams told Britain’s GQ that the Oscar-nominated “Silver Linings Playbook” director made her cry during her time on “American Hustle.” In addition to her conflict with Russell, Adams said she learned through an email hack from Sony that she was being paid less than her male co-stars, including Bale.
“I was really devastated on set,” Adams told Britain’s GQ.
Also, the Sony hack revealed that Bale had told the director to “stop acting like an a-” while filming “American Hustle”. On Wednesday, he not only confirmed that he had intervened on behalf of Adams, but said it was inevitable “there will be disruptions” given the “crazy creative talent” of Adams and Russell.
Adams wasn’t the only star to speak out against Russell and his toxic behavior on set, however. George Clooney claimed in 2000 that Russell yelled and humiliated some people on his “Three Kings” set, including a camera racer and script supervisor.
Then, in 2004, a video from the set of “I Heart Huckabees” showed Russell arguing with star Lily Tomlin, who complained about a “barrage of changes,” kicking props while yelling profanity 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 a “mediator” on “American Hustle” will not affect how he looks back on the film.
“They are phenomenal,” he said of the director and his former co-star. “You also have to remember that it was also the nature of the character. Right? Those characters weren’t people who balk at anything, were they?”
When asked how he felt about taking action on “American Hustle,” Bale said, “I did what I felt was appropriate, Irv style,” referring to his “American Hustle” character, Irving Rosenfeld, based on con artist Melvin Weinberg.
Attention to Russell’s behavior has resurfaced with the release of his latest film, “Amsterdam”, starring Bale. The cast also includes Margot Robbie, John David Washington and Taylor Swift.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
