'Wrestler' director defends Bale

The director of The Wrestler has said that he does not think Christian Bale was "out of line" when he reportedly launched a foul-mouthed tirade against a crewmember.

Darren Aronofsky said Bale's apparent F-word littered rant on the set of Terminator: Salvation may have been caused by a highly emotional scene.

"I think he was right. I don't think he was out of line. It is a sacred time between action and cut," the BBC reports him as saying.

"Sets are very, very high-powered places where things go awry all the time and emotions are high. People are out there working really hard and exposing themselves, especially actors, and they need to be protected.

"Although it's never good to lose your temper that bad for obvious reasons, we don't know what scene he was doing. He could have been doing a deeply, deeply intense emotional scene."

Bale's mother has claimed that she can understand why her son lost his temper, although she said she was upset by the length of the attack.

The four-minute tirade has become an internet phenomenon since it was leaked online earlier this week.