Christian Bale thinks the Hollywood sex scandal will trigger "change" within the movie industry.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale

The 43-year-old actor is among the most in-demand performers in Tinseltown, but Bale has admitted to being ignorant about Hollywood's notorious casting culture, which has been thrust into the spotlight since producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and assault by dozens of women in 2017.

Bale explained: "I can't see that this will become a footnote and be swept under the rug. It does feel like it will change."

The 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' actor is known for shunning the spotlight, which has led to him being called "reclusive".

And Bale has said that because he doesn't socialise with fellow Hollywood actors, he was shocked by the extent of the problem.

He told The Guardian newspaper: "Some people might call me almost reclusive. Nobody gossips with me. I was clueless. If I'm not making a film, I don't really socialise with that many people who make films.

"The casting couch, yes, I'd heard of that. But specifics? No, nothing at all. Do I believe that it has all been happening? Absolutely."

Bale's long-time friend Sir Ridley Scott opted to cut Kevin Spacey from his new crime thriller 'All the Money in the World', after the actor was accused by several men of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

On reflection, Bale thinks Scott was justified in replacing the Oscar winner with Christopher Plummer in his film.

He said: "Ridley's a very smart man, a friend of mine. I imagine he's made exactly the right choice."

However, Christian doesn't know the precise reasoning behind Scott's decision.

He added: "I don't know if the allegations were so egregious that it was a moral choice of Ridley's or if it was a purely business choice."