It's been nine months since Mel Gibson became one of the most reviled personalities in all of Hollywood thanks to a series of leaked phone conversations. Now with a new movie, The Beaver, hitting theaters in May he's opened up in his first interview since the tapes hit the Internet back in July.
While Deadline interviewer Allison Weiner was openly sympathetic to Mel (she called it hypocrisy that he was booted from Hangover II when Mike Tyson was in the first, and she declined to ask if he ever hitOksana Grigorieva), he still opens up on some big questions. For instance he admits he regrets what he said in the leaked tapes, which included racist and threatening remarks, but he continues to try to explain away his words instead of outright apologizing. He also calls it a "betrayal" that he was recorded in the first place.
"I’ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality -- period," he said. "I don’t blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited. You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship. It’s one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn’t represent what I truly believe or how I’ve treated people my entire life."
And how did Mel feel when those words came back to haunt him when he lost hisHangover cameo?
"You just move on and go okay," he said. "I’m not greatly offended by it. It seemed like a good idea at the time and it went south."
The aging actor is clearly grateful for the few celebrities who came to his defense, such as Whoopi Goldberg, who was criticized for stepping up for him.
"I knew Whoopi before she was Whoopi. And she’s great and I always liked her and loved her," Mel said. "I like her even more now because she got it."
Mel goes on to gush over The Beaver director Jodie Foster, who was quick to defend him when the scandal first broke.
"I’d give her a pedicure every day of the week if I could," he said. "We met on Maverick many years ago. ... She totally surprised me. I knew she was bright, so that didn’t surprise me. She was really bright. And she was pragmatic and extremely sensitive and a good heart, a real good heart. So how could you not become friends? We became fast friends and we maintained that over the years. ... You couldn’t get two people who are more diametrically opposed on everything that they think about religion and politics than what we do. But there is a core of goodness there that’s undeniable and I just love her."
Even though Mel claims he would be happy to quit acting, it sounds like he's doing his best to do what image rehabilitation he can manage. He says he'll soon be working on a new movie with Braveheart screenwriter Randy Wallace, but it remains to be seen whether audiences will be willing to spend money on anything with his name in the credits.