Andrew Garfield has worked with many great directors, from Terry Gilliam to David Fincher and Martin Scorsese, and he earned his first Oscar nomination for Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson. Since his infamous scandal in 2006, Gibson has somewhat restored his reputation, landing roles in Hollywood productions, though he rarely gets the chance to direct, even if they aren’t big blockbusters. Hacksaw Ridge was his most recent film, released eight years ago, and Garfield thinks he should be given many more opportunities.
In a recent interview with People regarding his new film Love in the Time of COVID, Garfield was asked what he learned from Gibson during their collaboration, to which he replied: “I learned a lot of things. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that they can ask for help. I learned that everyone deserves respect. And that people deserve a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance. None of us are infallible.”
In 1996, Gibson won an Academy Award for directing for Braveheart, but his ongoing struggles with alcohol led to increasing scandals, culminating in 2006 when he was arrested for drunk driving, and recordings surfaced of him launching into an anti-Semitic tirade while intoxicated. The actor-director publicly apologized, but it seemed at the time that his career was over. Garfield, who is of Jewish descent himself, does not hold a grudge against Gibson, with whom he had “deep, important conversations” during the making of Hacksaw Ridge. He sees that Gibson has been wonderfully able to overcome his own shadow.
The actor is very pleased about this because he considers Gibson a brilliant director who deserves to make films. “He deserves to tell stories because he has a very, very big and compassionate heart. He’s a director who comes out from behind the monitors with tears in his eyes. He knows when something works and when it doesn’t. I just completely trusted him. Storytelling is in his bones, so he feels… He can’t change that; he feels everything. He really is an empathetic guy,” Garfield expressed, noting that he will next be seen in theaters on December 26 in Love in the Time of COVID.
Mel Gibson, meanwhile, has returned to directing after eight years, helming the action thriller Flight Risk, starring Mark Wahlberg, which will be released in early 2025 by Lionsgate. It seems that the sequel to The Passion is also on the way.
