Andrew Garfield believes it’s time to move past the judgment of Mel Gibson following the Oscar winner’s anti-Semitic remarks made during a DUI arrest in 2006.
The 41-year-old Spider-Man alum, who appeared in Gibson’s 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge, described the 68-year-old filmmaker as a ‘real empathetic guy’ who ‘deserves a second chance’ during a Thursday interview with People.
‘He’s done a lot of beautiful healing with himself,’ Garfield said of Gibson. ‘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.’
The We Live in Time heartthrob, who identifies as Jewish, revealed that he had ‘deep, important conversations’ with Gibson while filming Hacksaw Ridge, from which he gained valuable life lessons.
‘I learned a lot, actually. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help. I learned that everyone deserves respect,’ Andrew said. ‘And that people deserve second chances, third chances, fourth chances. That none of us are infallible.’
Andrew Garfield believes it’s time to move past the judgment of Mel Gibson following the Oscar winner’s anti-Semitic remarks made during a DUI arrest in 2006; (pictured September)
The 41-year-old Spider-Man alum, who appeared in Gibson’s 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge, described the 68-year-old filmmaker as a ‘real empathetic guy’ who ‘deserves a second chance’ during a Thursday interview with People; (Garfield and Gibson in 2016)
Andrew described Mel as a deeply ’empathetic’ director who would often come out from behind the monitors with tears in his eyes, demonstrating his keen sense of when a scene felt right or wrong.
He emphasized his trust in Mel’s ‘visceral storytelling’ ability and his intense emotional engagement with the material.
‘He’s like he can’t help but feel everything. He’s a real empathetic guy,’ Andrew added.
Gibson faced significant backlash after his recorded tirade during the 2006 arrest in Malibu.
He later issued an apology, claiming there was ‘no excuse’ for his behavior and specifically expressed regret to the ‘Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words.’
In 2016, he told Variety that his offensive comments were ‘recorded illegally by an unscrupulous police officer’ during his arrest.
He added: ‘Ten years have gone by. I’m feeling good. I’m sober, all of that kind of stuff, and for me it’s a dim thing in the past. But others bring it up, which kind of I find annoying, because I don’t understand why after 10 years it’s any kind of issue.’
The Braveheart star emphasized that he does not discriminate and believes he shouldn’t be judged for the reprehensible comments he made while under the influence.
‘He’s done a lot of beautiful healing with himself,’ Garfield said of Gibson. ‘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 in September)
The We Live in Time heartthrob, who identifies as Jewish, revealed that he had ‘deep, important conversations’ with Gibson while filming Hacksaw Ridge, from which he gained valuable life lessons
‘I learned a lot, actually. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help. I learned that everyone deserves respect,’ Andrew said, adding, ‘And that people deserve second chances, third chances, fourth chances. That none of us are infallible’
‘Surely if I was really what they say I was, some kind of hater, there’d be evidence of actions somewhere,’ he offered. ‘There never has been. I’ve never discriminated against anyone or done anything that sort of supports that reputation.
‘And for one episode in the back of a police car on eight double tequilas to sort of dictate all the work, life’s work and beliefs and everything else that I have and maintain for my life is really unfair.’
According to the police report of the 2006 incident, Gibson said to the officers: ‘F**king Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?’
James Mee, the arresting Sheriff’s Deputy, was Jewish.
It was also noted in the police report that at one point Mel noticed a female officer, and shouted at her: ‘What do you think you’re looking at, sugar t*ts?’
In his apology letter to the Anti-Defamation League, he wrote: ‘There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark.
‘I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.’
He had previously said in a statement that he was ‘taking the necessary steps’ to against his battle with alcohol abuse.
‘I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable,’ Mel added. ‘I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone I may have offended.’
Andrew described Mel as a deeply ’empathetic’ director who would often come out from behind the monitors with tears in his eyes, demonstrating his keen sense of when a scene felt right or wrong; (pictured 2017)
Gibson faced significant backlash after his recorded tirade during the 2006 arrest (pictured) in Malibu
He later issued an apology, claiming there was ‘no excuse’ for his behavior and specifically expressed regret to the ‘Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words’; (L-R) Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracy and Vince Vaughn in 2016
Mel however did not say sorry for derogatory comments he made about gay people in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País in 1991, telling Playboy in 1995 that he will ‘apologise when hell freezes over’.
A few years later, he admitted: ‘I shouldn’t have said it, but I was tickling a bit of vodka during that interview, and the quote came back to bite me on the a**.’
And in 2010, during a recorded phone call between Mel and then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, the actor could be heard using the N-word, and telling Oksana that if she were to be ‘raped’ it would be her fault.
The following year, he pleaded no contest to battering his former girlfriend.
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