I felt it was strange that Christian Bale went on to portray John Connor in Terminator: Salvation, directed by McG (Charlie’s Angeles), after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. It didn’t seem to be the correct match-up. Bale reportedly had a bad working relationship with the director, and in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor discusses why he accepted the part in the first place. He also declares that he will never collaborate with McG again.

“Ah, yes. Yeah. But he goes, ‘Give me a chance. Everyone needs to evolve, and I need to turn over a new leaf. And please, you must’ve been in this position before yourself, when someone has taken a leap of faith on you,’ – which I have – ‘please do that for me now; I promise you, I’m ready for it.’”

Unfortunately for Bale – and McG – Terminator Salvation proved to be the worst installment yet in James Cameron’s long-running sci-fi tale. It garnered mixed reviews from reviewers and only grossed $371 million worldwide, a drop of over $150 million from the series’ previous high point, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Inflation-adjusted, Salvation would have earned around a third of what its predecessor did.

“There’s a lot of room for many approaches and many characters within the film industry. I won’t be working with him again…,” Bale said when asked about his opinions now that McG has had a chance to establish himself.

Christian Bale is clearly not McG’s greatest fan, but he did say something nice about him: “I wish him very well, okay.”

This is the film in which Bale had a massive breakdown on set, as you may remember. McG seems to have a knack for persuading others to do things and getting them enthused. Regrettably, he’s never done anything worth getting excited about. After Terminator: Salvation, I believe we all learnt a lot about McG.

Bale also spoke of reprimanding a paparazzo in Italy who had insulted his wife, but said he was otherwise uninterested in the kind of campaigning currently conducted by George Clooney. “It’s boring, isn’t it? You know what I mean? It doesn’t matter that he talks about it,” he said. “It’s like, come on, guys, just shut up. Just get on with it and live your lives and stop whining about it. I prefer not to whine about it.”

Christian Bale will next be seen as Moses opposite Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, and Aaron Paul in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings.