Christian Bale's sister wants the actor to seek professional help for his temper, after hearing his recently leaked foul-mouthed movie set rant.

An audio clip of Bale's intense four-minute tirade on the set of the forthcoming Terminator Salvation movie surfaced online on Tuesday. The actor is heard angrily reprimanding and hurling abuse and expletives at assistant director Shane Hurlbut, who distracted him during a scene by walking onset twice.

Bale has since apologized for his foul-mouthed rant, declaring his behavior as "out of order beyond belief." And the star's sister Sharon agrees, but insists Bale's rant was "totally out of character" - despite the star launching a similar verbal attack on her and her mother last year.

She tells Britain's Daily Telegraph, "It's terribly sad. I feel for him. He seems to be incredibly stressed and angry at the moment. This sort of behavior is totally out of character, and I think he might need help. He verbally attacked us. He spoke in the same aggressive way he did to that lighting engineer. I wouldn't have minded so much but it was in front of my family and three children."

The 35-year-old star was arrested in London last summer over accusations he attacked his mother Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 41, at the city's Dorchester Hotel just hours before the British premiere of The Dark Knight. The charges were dropped the following month. But Sharon is adamant that going to the cops over her brother's behavior was the right thing to do.

She adds, "I went to the police because I felt he should be cautioned. I thought one day his temper could get him into trouble. I regret it now because the media got involved and came out with some very hurtful things, about mum and me instigating the argument. There was a lot of ridiculous media gossip. All I was trying to do was help him. I wanted him to stop and try to get help."

The actor's sister hasn't spoken to him since his onset rant came to light - but thinks he just needs to take time out from acting to clear his head: "He's a lovely bloke who adores my kids and family. I haven't spoken to him about the latest incident but I wish him well. He's normally a placid guy but he has done film after film and he really gets into character. I think he just needs time out."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)