A ruinous prophecy: the filmmaker who compared Mel Gibson to a “violent demon”
From the very beginning of his career, Mel Gibson possessed a unique brand of charisma that almost felt dangerous, with many of his most memorable characters giving off the impression they could lose their cool and unleash furious vengeance at any second.
In a case of life imitating art, Gibson’s demons getting the better of him ended up torpedoing what was once one of the most successful careers in Hollywood. Anthony Hopkins had prophesied as early as the mid-1980s that he was in danger of ruining his career if he didn’t emerge on the winning side of his battle with the bottle, and 20 years later, he was proven correct.
Gibson’s 2006 arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and unleashing a tirade of antisemitic abuse in the direction of a police officer effectively cast him out of the mainstream in one fell swoop, which was further exacerbated four years later when he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour battery charge after partner Oksana Grigorieva imposed a restraining order against him.
High-profile roles have been few and far between ever since. While Gibson was welcomed back into the fold in a way when directorial effort Hacksaw Ridge won two Academy Awards and earned a further four nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’, he remains on the outside looking in.
As mentioned, protagonists like Mad Max figurehead Max Rockatansky, the Lethal Weapon franchise’s Martin Riggs, Ransom‘s Tom Mullen, Payback‘s Porter, The Patriot‘s Benjamin Martin, Edge of Darkness‘ Thomas Craven, and Blood Father‘s John Link were all men troubled by their pasts who saw violence as an end that justified the means.
History would eventually show that the two-time Oscar winner didn’t have to look too far within himself to find the sort of rage that defined several of those aforementioned characters, with Lethal Weapon creator and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director explaining how Gibson’s performance was key to the near-suicidal Riggs’ journey towards personal salvation, professional justice, and ultimately revenge.
“Mel Gibson channels this thing which is almost like a hurricane,” the writer and filmmaker explained to The Playlist. “When he becomes that violent demon.” It was within an entirely fictional context at the time, but those tendencies only became increasingly applicable in real life, as did the fact the character was “fractured and messed up and makes bad jokes”.
One of the oldest adages in acting is that it’s easiest to get into the mindset of a role only a step or two away from the performer’s genuine personality, which became true of Gibson and the “violent demon” and “messed up” figure of Riggs two decades after he played the part for the first time.
