Yet Another Mel Gibson Revival
With a new movie about to open, Mel Gibson is attempting a comeback – again.
He – and we – have been here before. The “Braveheart” star tried a similar move last year with the release of “Edge of Darkness,” a thriller that underwhelmed at the box office, and wasn’t helped by Gibson’s hostile reaction to questions about his infamous anti-Semitic tirade in 2006.
Two weeks before the release of “The Beaver,” a drama in which he’s directed by old friend Jodie Foster, Gibson has given an interview posted online by Deadline Hollywood, in which he talks about topics ranging from his professional ambitions to the scandal that damaged his career last year. The conversation, with journalist Allison Hope Weiner, focuses largely on last year’s leaked recordings of the actor, which revealed him threatening his then girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, and using racist and misogynistic language. The actor describes the recordings as “humiliating and painful,” and claims he “[doesn’t] care if I don’t act anymore.”
Generally pitched as softball questions, the interview mostly sidesteps Gibson’s ideas about Jews. A reference to his 2006 DUI arrest, during which he accused Jews of being “responsible for all the wars in the world,” is used to ask the actor about his work ethic – specifically when caught “at the center of something like this.” Unsurprisingly, Gibson doesn’t directly address the incident.
While Gibson’s professional fate doesn’t rest solely on “The Beaver” – he says he’s already got another project lined up – the prospects for his current comeback should become clearer after the film’s May 6 release.
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