Mel Gibson’s ironic link to ‘Schindler’s List’: “It wasn’t going to happen”
Mel Gibson is one of Hollywood’s most confounding stars. Having made a name for himself as a movie star in the 1970s and ‘80s with movies like Mad Max and Lethal Weapon, he went full Hollywood in the ‘90s with movies like The Patriot, Conspiracy Theory, Ransom, and What Women Want. When he turned to directing in 1995 with Braveheart, he proved that he had a natural talent for filmmaking as well as acting.
Braveheart may have been overhyped, but it earned Gibson two Oscars, one for ‘Best Director’ and the other for ‘Best Picture’. It marked him as a hot young talent in the field of directing and put him at the top of the Hollywood pile. Then, it all came crashing down, thanks to his own efforts.
It started with an arrest for drunk driving in 2006, during which he spouted antisemitic abuse at the arresting officer. In 2010, a recording surfaced of Gibson verbally attacking his then-partner, Oksana Grigorieva, which included racial slurs and physical threats. He was later slapped with a domestic violence-related restraining order and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour battery charge.
Even before this fall from grace, Gibson had a habit of casual homophobia, which rose to the surface during interviews and with other actors. Pervasive homophobia at the time meant that his comments usually slid under the radar, but in retrospect, they hinted at the hateful opinions and actions that would later derail the actor’s career.
Given this context, it’s surprising that Gibson was, at one point, dead set on starring in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama Schindler’s List. The film focuses on the life of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved more than 1,200 Jews from the Nazis during World War II by employing them in his factories and is, by definition, a celebration of compassion and courage defeating hate.
The role ultimately went to Liam Neeson, who portrayed the real-life character with the necessary gravitas and honour. It’s hard to imagine Gibson, one of the most high-profile antisemites in America, imbuing the part with anything other than swaggering hypocrisy, even before his virulently antisemitic beliefs were making headlines.
According to Michael Ovitz, the head of the talent agency CAA, however, Gibson had his heart set on it. “He was interested,” Ovitz told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “His agent put him forward. But it wasn’t going to happen. Steven wanted a non-movie star for the part.”
It’s safe to assume that if Spielberg had known about Gibson’s deeply held bigotry, he would have discounted him for other reasons, but as it stood, the director simply took the Lethal Weapon star out of the running and moved on.
According to Neeson, Gibson wasn’t the only other actor considered for the role. Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner were on the shortlist at one point, as well as the Australian actor Jack Thompson, who bore a striking resemblance to the real Schindler. In the end, however, Neeson won the day, and as anyone who’s sobbed through the film can attest, Spielberg made the right call.
