Mel Gibson on His 'Hacksaw Ridge' Comeback: 'It's Very Gratifying'
It's been 10 years since Mel Gibson stepped behind the camera or felt the embrace of his Hollywood peers. But now, thanks to the much-hyped Hacksaw Ridge, he's back on both accounts.
"It feels good," he told TheFIX's Ashley Spencer at the film's Sydney premiere. "If people like what it is that you do and you don't make films for an elite, it's very gratifying."
When the World War II drama (directed by Mel and starring Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn, and dozens of Aussie supporting actors) debuted at the Venice Film Festival in September, it received an unheard-of 10-minute standing ovation.
This, as 60-year-old Mel told us, is "better than a nine-minute standing ovation."
Hacksaw Ridge is based on the true story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, who refused to pick up a rifle, yet managed to save dozens of mens' lives at Okinawa and was ultimately awarded the Medal of Honour.
And The Passion of the Christ and Braveheart director believes its message is a crucial one in 2016.
"Oh my god, it's crazy right now," he told TheFIX of the political climate in the US. "I think it's important to have a character and tell a story about a character who has very clear definitions of who he is and what he believes and to stand by his convictions even to the peril of his own life.
"Who does that nowadays?"
While set in Virginia and Okinawa, Hacksaw was shot entirely in New South Wales, just outside of Sydney. And if one of the troops looks familiar, that's because Mel's 26-year-old son Milo Gibson is making his acting debut.
"I don't encourage [my kids] to get into acting or anything," said the dad of eight (currently expecting his ninth with girlfriend Rosalind Ross, 25). "But you know, if that's what he wants to do, I'm behind it. It's good."
After a string of very public troubles – that 2006 racist tirade, those 2010 domestic violence allegations, etc. – Mel is ready to finally put that all behind him.
"I've got 10 years of sobriety under my belt," he recently told Sunday Night. "We can all get into feeling sorry for ourselves, having a pity party about the past or what has happened, [but] it is not worth it because it affects the present and it affects the future."
Hacksaw Ridge is in Australian cinemas on November 3.
