Star Bale 'taped in angry rant'

Bale has signed up to star in three Terminator movies

Actor Christian Bale has apparently been caught on tape launching into a foul-mouthed tirade against a colleague on the set of Terminator: Salvation.

The tape allegedly captures the star swearing and screaming at a man who is thought to be the sci-fi film's director of photography, Shane Hurlbut.

Bale, 35, appears to be upset that an important scene has been interrupted.

It was leaked to gossip website TMZ. Sony Pictures has refused to comment and his agent has not returned calls.

During the four-minute verbal barrage, the crew member is castigated for "walking around in the background" of a scene between Bale's character, John Connor, and Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays his wife.

The voice, which alternates erratically between an American and British accent, demands that the offending person be removed from the production, shouting: "You and me, we're done professionally".

He also resists attempts by director McG and other members of the crew to calm down the situation, declaring: "No, I will not take a minute".

Almost all of the tape is unreportable due to the foul language.

'Just a moment'

Bale plays freedom fighter John Connor in Terminator: Salvation

While Bale has not commented on the incident, thought to have taken place last July, the film's associate producer, Bruce Franklin, defended his star.

"It was the most emotional scene in the movie," he told Hollywood website E!

"He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn't walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed."

Bale rose to fame as the child star of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun.

He went on to play Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, and had leading roles in Shaft and Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

In 2005, he took on the role of the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins and reprised the role in The Dark Knight.