The Real Reason Why Christian Bale Regrets Doing Terminator Salvation

"Terminator Salvation" was supposed to be the movie that reinvigorated the franchise following the lukewarm response to "Rise of the Machines." Things got off to an exciting start for the fourth installment too. Hot off the success of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," Jonathan Nolan was hired to write the story for the sci-fi action blockbuster. Throw in Christian Bale — who was one of the most exciting action stars on the planet at the time thanks to those aforementioned "Batman" movies — as the grown-up John Connor, and "Terminator Salvation" seemed like a winner from the get-go. However, Nolan had to leave the project early on according to IndieWire, and the movie couldn't catch a break after that.

"Terminator Salvation" was critically panned, and the movie underperformed at the box office as a result. Still, much of the negativity surrounding the film had nothing to do with anything that took place on the screen. Instead, the attention involved Bale and his behavior on the set. The actor isn't proud of his antics during the film's production, but what did he do, and why does he regret it?

Everyone has bad days at the office, but Christian Bale probably didn't expect one of his to become infamous. According to Entertainment Weekly, during the "Terminator Salvation" shoot, the actor lashed out at one of the crew members who stepped into his vision and distracted him during a scene. This caused Bale to spew a profanity-laced rant against his colleague, which was caught on tape and subsequently began making the rounds across the media landscape.

Bale later apologized for his outburst on the set, but it wasn't his only negative memory working on "Terminator Salvation." In an interview with the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast (per IndieWire), Bale revealed he turned down the role three times before eventually caving and signing on to the "Terminator" movie. Apparently, he only accepted the part out of spite because people kept telling him not to take it. Maybe he shouldn't have taken out his frustrations on an innocent crew member, but it seemed that the negative experience brought out the worst in Bale.