American Hustle: Christian Bale says he acted as a mediator between Amy Adams and David O. Russell

David O. Russell doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to running a set free of drama, and the director’s American Hustle was no exception. It was revealed during the infamous Sony hack that Russell made Amy Adams’ life “a living hell” on the set of American Hustle until Christian Bale “got in his face and told him to stop acting like an asshole.” While speaking with GQ, Christian Bale told his side of the story, saying that he acted as a “mediator” between Adams and Russell.

If I can have some sense of understanding of where it’s coming from, then I do tend to attempt to be a mediator. That’s just in my nature, to try to say, “Hey, come on, let’s go and sit down and figure that out. There’s gotta be a way of making this all work.

Christian Bale confirmed that the initial story was true, but it doesn’t make him feel any differently about American Hustle. “No. No, no, no. No. You’re dealing with two such incredible talents there,” Bale said. “No, I don’t let that get in the way whatsoever. Look, if I feel like we got anywhere close—and you only ever get somewhere close to achieving; our imagination is too incredible to ever entirely achieve it—but if you get anywhere close to it, and when you’re working with people of the crazy creative talent of Amy or of David, there are gonna be upsets. But they are fucking phenomenal. Also, you got to remember, it was the nature of the characters as well. Right? Those characters were not people who back down from anything, right?“

While speaking with GQ several years ago, Amy Adams said that Russell was cruel to her on the set of American Hustle, bringing her to tears on several occassions. “He did… I was really just devastated on set. I mean, not every day, but most,” Adams said. “Jennifer [Lawrence] doesn’t take any of it on. She’s Teflon. And I am not Teflon. But I also don’t like to see other people treated badly.. It’s not ok with me. Life to me is more important than movies. It really taught me how to separate work and home. Because I was like, I cannot bring this experience home with me to my daughter.” David O. Russell’s latest star-studded movie, Amsterdam, is set to hit theaters on October 7th. The film stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington as a trio of friends who become the prime suspects in the murder of US Senator Bill Meekins in the 1930s. You can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.