On Monday, a curse-filled audio clip hit the Internet in which [url id="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/02/03/christian-bales-rant-is-contagious-get-out-of-our-face/"]Christian Bale verbally attacked[/url] director of cinematography Shane Hurlbert on the set of "Terminator Salvation" last year. (The rant has spread so quickly that [url id="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/02/03/you-can-now-dance-to-the-sound-of-christian-bales-fury/"]musical remixes[/url] of it can be found online.)

Among other choice words during the three-and-half-minute rant, Bale told the man, who interrupted a scene he was shooting, "I want you off the set! You p---k! No, don't just be sorry! Think for one f---ing second! What the f--- are you doing? Are you professional or not?"

Bruce Franklin, an assistant director and associate producer on the film, told E! News that Bale is a "consummate professional," adding, "If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove ... It was the most emotional scene in the movie and for him to get stopped in the middle of it ... 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.

"This was my second movie with Christian, and it has always been a good experience with him," Franklin, who also worked with the actor on "Shaft," added. "He is so dedicated to the craft. I think someone is begging to make some noise about this, but I don't think it's fair. The art of acting is not paint-by-numbers, it's an art form."

Franklin also spoke with TMZ, calling the blowup a "non-event" and saying, "Christian is a method actor and was completely immersed in his scene ... his reaction was from the heat of the moment."

He also told the site that despite Bale's threats to have him fired from the film, Hurlbert was not fired and he said that Bale was under a lot of pressure due to his intense promotion schedule for "Dark Knight."