.jpg) Mel Gibson returns to the big screen for his first major role in six years in the gripping thriller Edge of Darkness .
The Oscar winning filmmaker and actor was tempted back into a starring role in front of the cameras by the opportunity to work on a contemporary cinematic version of one of his all time favourite mini series, which was originally screened in the 1980s and starred the late Bob Peck.
Gibson loved the BBC drama and when the original series director, Martin Campbell, came to him with the idea of a contemporary cinematic version of the same story he was immediately interested. In Edge of Darkness he plays detective Thomas Craven whose daughter is shot dead by his side as she leaves their house.
At first police believe that the killers were targeting Craven himself and that his daughter was shot by mistake but gradually he discovers that she had a secret life as an activist who had been trying to expose a corporate cover up at the nuclear plant where she worked.
The result is a nail biting, extremely tense thriller that casts Gibson in one of his favourite roles, as a maverick loner who has to fight a corrupt system to find out exactly what happened to his beloved daughter and bring her killers to justice.
“I saw the original series in the 1980s and it really blew my mind,” he says. “I watched it and I was like ‘wow!' I was left with my mouth hanging open. Bob (Peck) is dead now and he was amazing in that. I think it was the best TV I saw in that decade and it's a tall order when your task is to make an updated version of it.
“But I felt good about it because Martin (Campbell) was doing it again and it was the same team sort of having another look at it. I think it holds its own, which is good.”
Gibson, 53, is one of the genuine icons of modern cinema who has proved himself as a versatile actor in a host of wide ranging roles. As an actor his films include Mad Max, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Bounty, Lethal Weapon, Hamlet, Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, The Patriot, What Women Want and Signs .
He made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without A Face – in which he also starred – and followed that two years later with the historical epic Braveheart . As well as directing Braveheart he also starred as William Wallace, the Scots leader who leads a rebellion against English rule. The film went on to win five Oscars including Best Picture.
More recently, Gibson directed The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Apocalypto (2006).
Q: Are you pleased with Edge of Darkness ?
A: Yeah, it works. On face value I think you could just say it looks like ‘oh here we go, another revenge movie' and stuff but it's actually rather more than that. It investigates grief, loss, in a good way.
Q: Presumably you had seen the original BBC series?
A: Oh yeah and it really blew my mind. I saw the original series in the 1980s and it really blew my mind,” he says. “I watched it and I was like ‘wow!' I was left with my mouth hanging open. Bob (Peck) is dead now and he was amazing in that. I think it was the best TV I saw in that decade and it's a tall order when your task is to make an updated version of it within the time frame of two hours. I mean, even the music in the original series was amazing – music by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen. How cool is that? But I felt good about it because Martin (Campbell) was doing it again and it was the same team sort of having another look at it. I think it holds its own, which is good.
Q: You obviously had to make the story contemporary. Was he corporate conspiracy aspect of the story one of the things that appealed to you?
A: Yeah that sort of thing and you know, who knows? It's kind of a stab in the dark but hey, you don't have to stab to far in the dark, before you hit something these days. I mean there's a lot of stuff going on that's, I think to anybody with a brain, looks around and says ‘that ain't right.' So I don't know if we've hit anything on the head or not, but it's feasible. And it's like, it's illustrated, it's not sketched out to heavily, but just enough.
Q: You've acted in a couple of smaller roles but Edge of Darkness is your first major role for a few years. Was it a conscious decision to step back from acting and concentrate on directing?
A: I guess seven or eight years back there was just this kind of decision that I felt like I was getting stale in the arena that I occupied, so I thought I'd just step out of it for awhile and just change hats and then go for some other, for different kinds of things. And I don't know, I just felt like it was time to come back, because if you spend that long away, I mean you're going to change - time and maturity and oxidization and all of the little things take a hold of you, you'll come back and you'll make different decisions, than what you had seven or eight years earlier. And God willing if I go on and do the same, just keep moving, because I think once you start to stand still in an area, it's maybe a little dangerous, so you almost have to impose a penalty on yourself and walk away for a little while, because you can walk into that groove where you just think ‘well, keep going..' it doesn't mean anything after awhile, except a pay check, which is not, doesn't really justify or, it's not really what you're after.
Q: OK, so what are you after when you have been in the business for so long?
A: What you're after is really kind of some fulfilment in what you do and have other people relate to it, and if it starts to feel stale, you've got to re-examine it I think. And I really like the experience of stepping away from that and getting behind the camera. It's great, that's the best. And I'll do that again soon too, I'll just break it up a little.
Q: But what was it like coming back into a big role like this?
A: Well, it just seemed pretty matter-of-fact - you're much more relaxed. It's pretty much the same as I remembered it, as far as just the mechanics of it going, it's kind of like riding a bicycle, except that you bring more time, more experience, and a fresh voice to the party, that's it. It was fun to work on it because it was a deceptive little production in that it was a lot of bits that kind of added up, but individually, they didn't seem to amount to anything on their own, which was, I think I'm able to see, especially having been in the directors chair myself for a while…
Q: OK, obvious question but like you said, you've been directing your own films, so how was it go back and have somebody direct you?
A: Well I think the main thing you have is empathy for the director. It's like you look at the guy and you go ‘poor bastard' (laughs) because they run you ragged. And of course your job there is to help him achieve what his vision is, so you're there but the workload seems less, and indeed it is, because you're a component in the process of storytelling whereas with the other gig, you've got to be on 24/7.
Q: Was it a hard part physically? Because there are some fight scenes and they look very authentic…
A: You know, I love the way that fight looks, it's messy looking…
Q: At one point you look winded, it's very realistic…
A: (laughs) Dude, I was winded! I'm like trying to catch my breath and hey it's tough, that kid was strong, and he's half my age, so it's like, and he had to let me win (laughs). So it was like one of those things like where, ‘whew, he's a handful!' So you don't bounce off, you don't bounce back as quick as normal, I mean I had a couple of sore days after that one. But yeah, you're knocked around, but it's fun, I like making the image, it's worth it for that. As long as you've got a good bone man afterwards that can reset you, because you need a chiropractor and somebody to like put your neck back because you get knocked around. And you don't bounce back as fast. It's like I used to do this stuff off the side, 25 years ago, no problem, now it's like, ‘owww! I think I'll just crawl under the couch!' (laughs)
Q: Your character in Edge of Darkness is driven by terrible grief because he's a father who loses his daughter in the most violent way. You're a father yourself, so presumably you could relate to that?
A: Of course, yeah. I've got grandchildren and you're looking at that, I'm looking at my daughter and my sons kind of step into that place where I've been, as responsible adults, and man, they've turned out OK and I'm going to have to shuffle off one of these days so this is what I've done to hand it on to them. It's the idea of natural progression and most of us want to hand on those good things to our children, our experiences, to them. And to have that taken away, like the guy in this story does, to lose that natural thing like that, would have to change your perspective on the world and your whole existence. So that's what I found very interesting about the script. And that the core of it is kind of pretty emotional, so that it doesn't turn into a Charlie Bronson revenge movie, but it actually means something.
Q: You mentioned that you do want to direct again, do you have something in mind?
A: Oh yeah. And it's going to whack your nuts off. (laughs) I can't talk about it. I'm just formulating the story now.
Q: It's come from an original idea from you?
A: Yeah, and it's something I've been thinking about since I was like seventeen. You know how I said I started thinking about it and I kind of started doing it, but I didn't do specifically what I started thinking about, but I kind of left it till now. And there's a little ways to go before I actually get to that, but I'll get to it.
Q: You're famous for being a practical joker. Are the jokes and the humour part of bonding on a set?
A: Absolutely. Some cruelty, they have to be a little cruel, (laughs) otherwise they're not funny. But absolutely. I just worked with Jodie Foster (on The Beaver ) and what a magnificent woman she is. I love her.
Q: You guys go back a long way.
A: Yeah, she's just great, she's so nice, and I don't think anyone knows who she really is, she's really like an amazing person. Smart, decisive, cut to the chase. Great.
Q : But was it fun on that set as well?
A: It was, yeah, yeah, it didn't look too wacky, it was just funny, it was just generally a nice shoot, and I think I'm getting older because I just haven't got the time to elaborate on setting up too many jokes (laughs).
Q: What do you think was your most elaborate practical joke you ever did?
A: Oh, I don't even know if I can mention it dude, I'd get into trouble, I swear (laughs).
Q: But it worked?
A: It worked, really well.
Q: And you put a lot of planning into it?
A: I put a lot of planning into it. It started off on a whim, because the opportunity just presented itself, like shooting a big fish in a barrel, and it was all set to go, so I just like pushed it along for like the next three months, until it became this thing where (laughs) it was like, oh man, I was in tears on a daily basis, because it's like you create something that perpetuates itself, and then it becomes a reality when in fact it doesn't exist. So it's an illusion. And for the benefit for just one practical joker, who was smart and good, and I can't believe he bit the hook through this thing. And I still know the guy and he appreciates it. And he did get back at me, but not like I got him, (laughs) I got off light, really, really got off light.
Q: read somewhere that you liked Michael Apted's documentary series, 7 Up. Is that true?
A: I love it. That's fascinating to me. And that's my year too; it's interesting isn't it?
Q: What was the 7-year-old Mel Gibson like? Would you have seen the man that he was to become?
A: I have no idea. That's really weird, somebody would have had to document it and show me, because I'm not sure what the hell I was doing at seven. I have no idea. But I remember when I was about fourteen, I got really jazzed on an idea, and wanted to make a film about it, but had this desire to do it, I thought how cool that would be if… But of course that never actually materialized, until much later.
Q: Did you watch a lot of films as a kid?
A: Yeah. We had the black and white TV and mostly I watched films on that. We didn't go out to the cinema. We didn't have the money to go out. But occasionally you go out to the drive in, and see something like The Dirty Dozen , I remember seeing that. And those things leave an impression on you, I think when I started really going to the cinema I was in my teen years, and it was during the 70s, it was an amazing decade to be watching films. The 70s was just cool, it had it all man - really good film making, good acting, good everything. It was a whole different era of naturalism and I just remember going to the cinema and those films leave a mark on you. Amazing, and they were varied, they were varied and they were really interesting in the way they'd show you things. It was like wow, this is so cool, but very exciting. And everything from like the Sam Peckinpah films to Polanski's Macbeth , and everything in between, the Godfather movies and the Sidney Lumet films, those ones he was making in the 70s was fucking killer, and the performances were great, I thought Al Pacino was the best thing I'd ever seen, he was like amazing and he was in a couple of films and so that decade was incredible. It had a lot of richness to it.
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