Last year wasn’t a good year for Mel Gibson, the whole scandal with the leaked recordings and other remarks that got him into the tabloid press did no favours for his career. However he may be coming back despite he himself recognising the damage he’s done. In May we will have the release of The Beaver, which has received good reviews especially for Gibson’s performance but in an exclusive interview with Deadline he admits he may never act again:
I don’t care if I don’t act anymore… I could easily not act again. It’s not a problem.
He does however say that there is a project with Randall Wallace on the cards which he could direct and will also have a small role in. He says the project is small but he really likes the script:
I’m going to do something now because I want to do it and because it’s fun. I’ve already pulled another job and it’s going to be fun. I don’t know if it’s going to get off the ground, but I’m going to go work for Randy Wallace again. He’s got this script and he’s had it for years. He wrote some book and he’s adapted it to a script. And it’s almost like Alexander Dumas — like that swashbuckler kind of stuff.
It’s total bodice-ripping swashbuckling stuff, but it’s funny. It’s funny and yet it’s got really good serious undertones too. Randy writes a decent script. And I responded to it right away. I thought this is hilarious. I’ve got to do this. And I’m not the main guy in the film — which is great.
Sounds interesting, and if Mel Gibson is directing (it isn’t confirmed either way) then bodice ripping is absolutely perfect for him and his sensibilities. Look at Braveheart for example, which Wallace also wrote. It was entertaining for the level of violence in it rather than the story. This could be the same. The rest of interview focused heavily on last year’s controversy and is well worth reading. But amongst that he talked about being dumped from The Hangover Part II, which he says is regretful:
You have to let that go. I sat here and talked to Todd Phillips about it. I like Todd. How could you not like Todd? He’s smart and he’s gifted and so are the other people in the film. It’s okay. You just have to let that go. You just move on and go okay. I’m not greatly offended by it. It seemed like a good idea at the time and it went south.
As the interviewer says considering they have convicted rapist and general all round git Mike Tyson in the cast, that it smacks of complete Hollywood hypocrisy. And it does. However I’m looking forward to seeing Gibson bounce back, his performance in The Beaver looks terrific and different, plus seeing him direct another ‘bodice ripper’ is exciting, and if it is anything like as insane as Apocalypto I will be very happy indeed.
