The decision to cast Mel Gibson in The Continental, Peacock’s upcoming John Wick spinoff, has been a controversial one with audiences, many of whom have still not forgiven the actor for his widely-publicized public meltdown, which included spousal abuse charges and public racism. Gibson, at the time fresh of the huge success of The Passion of the Christ, appeared to be ready to enter a new stage in his career when a series of outbursts brought that career to a screeching halt for a while. He has been back at work for years, but until now, had yet to really grab the kind of giant franchise property that suggests he’s really “back” (although his 2016 movie Hacksaw Ridge was nominated for Best Director).
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That seems to be happening now, with not just The Continental but a planned sequel to The Passion, although the jury is obviously out on how the audience will receive either project. The Continental‘s producers, though, claim they didn’t give Gibson’s personal controversies any bandwidth when considering him for the role.
“There just simply wasn’t a consideration about it,” executive producer Basil Iwanyk told IGN.
“I think he fit the role, he fit what we needed based on his film past,” executive producer XXX Hughes added. “And I’ll leave others to debate the other stuff because it’s not a black-and-white issue, and I don’t want to be sound-byted and clickbait. That’s a tricky game to get into. I have my own personal beliefs in life and whatnot about everything, but I’m here to entertain. And earlier in my career I wasn’t so careful. But there’s a weight that he brought, the stuff that he brought from his past roles and what he has done that we needed for this role. And I don’t think anybody could have fit better, let’s put it that way, just with his chops and his experience.”
During a 2006 DUI arrest, Gibson lashed out at one of the arresting officers, making a number of antisemitic remarks. Gibson, an evangelical Christian, had been accused of using antisemitic tropes and rhetoric in his film, The Passion of the Christ, two years before, so when damning audio came out in which he attacked Jewish people, it was confirmation of a suspicion that had already been floating around in the pop culture ether for a while.
After the 2006 arrest, Gibson couldn’t seem to get back on track, and in 2011, he pled no contest to misdemeanor battery of his ex-girlfriend. Since then, Gibson has made about 20 films, but only a handful of those — Daddy’s Home 2, The Expendables 3 — were actually mainstream hits, and Gibson’s role in Expendables was hardly a leading one.
The Continental debuts this September on Peacock.
