Mel Gibson deserves a second chance in Hollywood

Andrew Garfield recently told People magazine that Mel Gibson “deserves to make movies” and “has done a lot of miraculous healing on himself.” Gibson's Hollywood career plummeted after his infamous drunken driving arrest in 2006, during which the “Braveheart” Oscar winner made comments denigrating Jewish people. Gibson directed Garfield in the 2016 war drama “Hacksaw Ridge,” for which Garfield was nominated for a best actor Oscar. The filmmaker received a nomination for best director.

“Actually, I learned a lot. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help. “I learned that everyone deserves respect,” Garfield responded when People asked what he learned from making “Hacksaw Ridge” with Gibson. “And that people deserve a second chance, a third chance and a fourth chance. That none of us are infallible.”

“He performed many miraculous healings on himself,” Garfield added. “And thank God. Because he is a great filmmaker and I think he deserves to make films. He deserves to tell stories because he has a very, very big, compassionate heart. He's the type of director who comes out from behind the monitors with moist eyes. He knew when it was right and he knew when it wasn't right. And I just really trusted him. And he's a soulful storyteller, so he can feel… He feels like he can't help but feel everything. He’s a really empathetic guy.”

Gibson recently returned to the director's chair for the first time since “Hacksaw Ridge” with the upcoming thriller “Flight Risk” starring Mark Wahlberg. The film will be released in cinemas in 2025. Although he continued to act in the years following his 2006 arrest, he was rarely seen in major Hollywood tentpoles or studio films.

After his arrest in 2006, Gibson apologized extensively for his comments about the Jewish people, saying: “There is no excuse and there should be no tolerance for anyone who thinks or utters any anti-Semitic remark.”

“I would like to expressly apologize to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and damaging words I said to a police officer the night I was arrested for drunk driving,” he added at the time. I am a public person, and when I say something, whether articulate and thoughtful or blurted out in a moment of madness, my words carry weight in public. Therefore, I must take personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who were hurt and offended by these words.”

Gibson's “Flight Risk” is scheduled to be released by Lionsgate on January 24, 2025. Garfield is currently starring opposite Florence Pugh in the A24 romantic drama We Live in Time, currently playing in select cinemas.