On making movies: "You're cooking a meal for people who are going to eat and then comment. Some of them are going to like it and some of them are going to hate it. Some of them are going to throw up and some of them are going to ask for more."
A different breed
The storm outside was relenting and, after more than an hour and a half, the movie star seemed to finally let down his defenses. Some topics remain off-limits: "The family is doing fine, everybody's healthy," he said with an expression that made it clear that was all he planned to say about his children. In a way, Gibson seems like a man from some unconstructed time, someone who lives in an age of prophecy, codes of honor and falling on your sword, even if the only reason is that you drank too much and tripped on your scabbard. "I put myself in a position where they could do it to me," he said. "It was my own fault."
Graham King, the producer of "Edge of Darkness," said he initially wondered if America really wanted to sit down with Mel Gibson in a theater with the lights out. But while filming in Boston, he watched as gawkers gathered to catch a glimpse of the star as a scene was shot in a public park. "Look, I was the producer on 'The Departed' and there was a crowd that came to see Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio, but Mel drew a bigger crowd then those two together."
Others in Hollywood are also optimistic that Gibson is a rehabilitated persona; Gibson has already finished making his next film, a quirky comedy called "The Beaver," directed by Jodie Foster, an old friend of Gibson's who will portray his wife in the movie.
Gibson is uncertain what to expect from the ticket-buying public. "I would hope people would be gracious and give me a chance." They might. Behaving badly is often forgiven in Hollywood -- just ask Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr. and Kiefer Sutherland. Gibson, though, is wrestling with a different challenge; he's the man who went on a bender and blamed all the wars in history on the Jews.
There's a moment in "Edge of Darkness" in which a glowering Gibson warns a compromised man that he needs to decide whether he wants to be the one on the cross or the one doing the nailing. Gibson smiled when asked about the line. Martyrs, religious symbols and mayhem are tricky topics for a Mel Gibson who is trying to put down the lightning rod and weather the storm.
"Religion and politics hit nerves," Gibson said. "There's a lot of anger about a lot of things. It's not easily resolved. I guess that's what wars are about. Wars are about prejudice and fear. Hit first before you get hit. Believe me, I know."
Gibson is an extremely wealthy man as the producer of "Passion" and a longtime player in the real-estate market. He says he came back to acting only to prove something to himself. "I walked away in the first place because I felt like a dinosaur," Gibson said. It happened during "Signs." M. Night Shyamalan cast Gibson because the director, as a young moviegoer, had been so struck by Gibson's suicidal-cop performance in "Lethal Weapon." But then on the "Signs" set, the filmmaker took Gibson aside and said his acting was too over-the-top.
"I felt ham-fisted," Gibson said, plainly embarrassed. "He told me I was just doing too much. I looked around, though, and I was the oldest guy on the set and I felt like the least sophisticated. I decided I needed to rethink everything. I got into this, all of this, because I wanted to be good. I walked away because I don't know that I was bringing much new to anything. It could be argued that I'm not bringing anything new to it in this film, but I would argue that I did. Another seven or eight years of living informs the choices one makes."
