Uh oh, unstoppable cutie Andrew Garfield is defending Mel ‘Passion of the Christ 2’ Gibson and it’s giving ‘why?’

Andrew Garfield has worked with a number of directors throughout his career, and when it comes to the violent racist Mel Gibson, he only has good things to say! In an exclusive interview with People, Garfield shared his thoughts about actor and director Mel Gibson, who has been caught up in controversies in his decades-long career.

Gibson directed Garfield in the 2016 war biopic Hacksaw Ridge, where the latter played the lead role of World War II U.S. Army Corporal and combat medic Desmond Doss. The actor said he had “deep, important conversations” with Gibson and said he learned a lot from the veteran actor.

“I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help. I learned that everyone deserves respect.”

Garfield further noted that no one is infallible and people deserve second, third, and fourth chances in life.

Mel Gibson’s many controversies throughout the years

Gibson has been embroiled in controversies for decades, mostly from homophobic, racist, and anti-Semitic statements he had made. In 1991, a Spanish newspaper asked for his thoughts about homosexuality, and the actor said, “They take it up the a**. This is only for taking a s**t.” A few years later, he was chastised for how he depicted Edward II in Braveheart, a movie he produced, directed, and starred in. GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) described the portrayal as a “homophobic caricature” and Gibson refused to apologize, saying, “I’ll apologize when hell freezes over. They can f**k off.”

In 2010, actress Winona Ryder revealed in an interview with GQ that she had an offputting experience with Gibson during a party sometime in the ‘90s when she was with her gay friend. Ryder alleged that a drunk Gibson made a “really horrible gay joke” and during the conversation, her Jewish faith came up. “He said something about ‘oven dodgers’ but I didn’t get it. I’d never heard that before,” Ryder said. An “oven dodger” is a derogatory term for Jews in reference to those who escaped gas chambers during the Holocaust. Gibson denied having said that and called the actress a liar.

Perhaps what most remember is when Gibson was arrested for a DUI in 2006 wherein he made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer. A hostile Gibson resisted arrest, screamed threats, and went into an anti-Semitic tirade, saying, “F***ing Jews! The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world! Are you a Jew?” Gibson later apologized to the Jewish community and said there was no excuse for what he said.

In yet another incident, a recording came out in 2010 where Gibson was heard berating his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, calling her a “f***ing b***h on heat,” adding that she would be to blame if she gets raped by a “pack” of N-word. The actor responded to the revelation by saying Grigorieva edited the audio recordings.

Andrew Garfield says Mel Gibson ‘deserves to make films’

Garfield described Gibson as empathetic and a visceral storyteller, which is why he believes Gibson should continue to make movies, saying that the director has since “done a lot of beautiful healing with himself.”

“He’s an amazing filmmaker, and I think he deserves to make films. He deserves to tell stories, because he has a very, very big, compassionate heart.”

Gibson isn’t the same star he once was, but he is looking to direct a sequel to The Passon of the Christ and Lethal Weapon 5 if obstacles like his own deeply damaged brain don’t stop him from doing so.