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Andrew Garfield has defended working with Mel Gibson, who directed him in Hacksaw Ridge.
British actor Garfield appeared in the 2016 war film, which was a comeback-of-sorts for Gibson. After the actor-filmmaker was blacklisted from Hollywood for a string of controversies, including racist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, Hacksaw Ridge saw Gibson receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
Garfield, who co-stars with Florence Pugh in new romantic drama We Live in Time, has now addressed his decision to star in a film directed by Gibson, stating: “He’s done a lot of beautiful healing with himself.”
In an interview with People, Garfield continued: “And thank God. Because he’s an amazing filmmaker, and I think he deserves to make films. He deserves to tell stories, because he has a very, very big, compassionate heart.”
Gibson, who is prepping sequels to The Passion of the Christ and Lethal Weapon, was arrested for suspected drink driving in Malibu in 2006, and made antisemitic remarks to a policeman, which he later apologised for, claiming that the comments were “blurted out in a moment of insanity”.
According to a police report, Gibson asked the officer if he was Jewish and said: “F***ing Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”
At the time, Gibson said there is “no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of antisemitic remark”.
Garfield, who is Jewish, said he had “deep, important conversations” with Gibson before signing onto Hacksaw Ridge. He called the Lethal Weapon star “a deeply empathetic guy”, and said the collaboration taught him “a lot”.
“I learnt that people can heal. I learnt that people can change, that people can get help. I learnt that everyone deserves respect. And that people deserve second chances, third chances, fourth chances. That none of us are infallible.”
Reflecting on his antisemitic comments in 2014, Gibson said: “All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times, so for this question to keep coming up, it’s kind of like... I’m sorry they feel that way, but I’ve done what I need to do.”
In July 2021, Gibson received criticism after he was spotted saluting Donald Trump in a video.
