Mel Gibson has climbed back into the saddle as an actor for a starring role in Edge of Darkness, a murder-mystery directed by Martin Campbell of Casino Royale fame, and written by William Monahan of The Departed. A Crabbie fan who lives in the Massachusetts town where Gibson was just filming was kind enough to share some accounts of the shoot and pass along some exclusive pictures of Mel on-location.
The shoot was largely a nightmare for residents of Northampton, whose town was all but shut down for a week. Crabbie's spy says the crew took over the court house, creating a huge annoyance, and even went so far as to disable a safety device intended to aid the visually impaired at a dangerous intersection. One resident wasn't having any of the nonsense however. The handicapped woman, says Crabbie's spy, parked her car in the middle of the shoot and was told to move by a crew-member. "I will park anywhere I damn well want," the elderly lady shouted back. "I don't care who the fuck you are." The crew member thought better of further confrontation and let the old lady go her merry way.
Of course Mel Gibson himself was the star attraction. Some residents had fun with him while the cast and crew were busy across the street from the post office. A postal worker shouted at him, "Hel Mel, you need some stamps?"
"Do you have any with my picture on it?" Gibson replied.
The postal worker said no, she indeed did not.
"Well you should make some," Mel quipped. "Nothing would give me more pleasure than knowing that people across the United States are licking my ass."
Mel Gibson, always the wit. At least he abstained from dropping a "Sugartits" or an anti-Jewish rant in there. Here are more pictures of the pampered, apparently sunstroke-prone Mr. Gibson shooting Edge of Darkness.
(Congratulations to the tavern owners around Northampton by the way - I'm sure they cleaned up while Mel was in town. That piss smell will eventually go away too.)
"You're a little person. I'm just like Jesus except I'm not a Jew. Did you just make eye-contact?"
"Oh, that one's got a nice ass."
"Apocalypto. What the hell was I thinking? God I really need help don't I? Nah, fuck it. I'm Mel Gibson."
"Look at all these fucking peasants. What the hell do they even go on breathing for? Oh man I'd like to ride that one like a fucking race horse."