What is Mel Gibson's signature role (1 Viewer)

[badmojo1006]

I really should keep a list but pretty sure we have not done him

I went with Max, could be William Wallace or Riggs, but Max made him

 

[Jaysus]

Dude, William Wallace.

 

[Statorama]

When I heard Mel Gibson, the first image was Martin Riggs

(well, after the one of him drunk on a curb yelling at cops)

 

[badmojo1006]

Dude, William Wallace.

 Fixed to include William Wallace

 

[Jayrod]

And Benjamin Martin in The Patriot.  Won't win, but deserves to be on there ahead of some of your other suggestions.

 

[Brony]

"Drunken Racist Sexist Jerk"  

 

[Jayrod]

Tough call between Max, Riggs & Wallace.

 

[[scooter]]

The crazy guy on "South Park".

 

[Ilov80s]

Braveheart is my favorite and he's great as Guy in Year of Living Dangerously but Riggs just seems fitting for him. It's how I picture Mel. 

 

[Insein]

Mad Max in the Road Warrior but otherwise Riggs.

 

[mozzy84]

braveheart popped in my head first but I think that's because I loved that movie back in the day.  it has to be riggs though, those movies made him.

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

“Tim”

 

[nirad3]

First thing to pop into my head was Braveheart but I can certainly see merit in Riggs.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

“Two days ago I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You want to get out of here, you talk to me.”

 

[Otis]

I love him in Lethal Weapon, but I don’t see how you vote that over Braveheart. 

 

[Jayrod]

I love him in Lethal Weapon, but I don’t see how you vote that over Braveheart. 

I think that the combination of that being the role that really made him a household name and that they did 3 sequels puts it in the forefront over Braveheart, IMO.

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

I just saw Mortal Engines the other day, so my mind jumped 1st to Mad Max - my vote.

William Wallace and Riggs seem equally valid.

 

[Politician Spock]

I love him in Lethal Weapon, but I don’t see how you vote that over Braveheart. 

If I had to choose one movie, I chose Braveheart over all the others.

But since I have to chose a role, I chose Riggs, as that role was great over a span of multiple movies. 

 

[Ilov80s]

I think that the combination of that being the role that really made him a household name and that they did 3 sequels puts it in the forefront over Braveheart, IMO.

And it just seemed to capture the essence of who Mel is. Mel is not an honorbound poet warrior fighting for downtrodden minorities, he's a loose cannon who has no problem crossing any lines of professionalism or ethics to get what he wants. 

 

[need2know]

tough one

Riggs

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

And it just seemed to capture the essence of who Mel is. Mel is not an honorbound poet warrior fighting for downtrodden minorities, he's a loose cannon who has no problem crossing any lines of professionalism or ethics to get what he wants. 

Yeah. I see this in the Road Warrior series as well. Although, in those he eventually develops a line of ethics - kinda.

It has been too long since I have seen any of these. I kinda lost interest in him. It is too bad, cause he has some great work.

 

[Sullie]

I'm older so I always think of him as Max and of course he was great in Braveheart and as Riggs before that series wore out its welcome.  I have to say, I don't think Payback gets much love but I really enjoy that movie a lot, I think he plays it very well and, naturally, like damn near every role Mel Gibbs has ever had he gets tortured in it, so there's that.

 

[timschochet]

Throw in anti-Semite with the Drunken racist sexist category, and we have a winner. 

 

[Dr. Octopus]

The hand nailing Jesus to the cross in Passion of the Christ.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Braveheart is my favorite and he's great as Guy in Year of Living Dangerously but Riggs just seems fitting for him. It's how I picture Mel. 

Same for me. Braveheart is one of my favorite movies but the Lethal Weapon movies are iconic and what put him on the map.

 

[Weebs210]

People sleeping on payback.

 

[joffer]

I love him in Lethal Weapon, but I don’t see how you vote that over Braveheart. 

you just click on the button

 

[nirad3]

If I had to choose one movie, I chose Braveheart over all the others.

But since I have to chose a role, I chose Riggs, as that role was great over a span of multiple movies. 

This is actually a pretty solid point.

 

[grateful zed]

i really liked him that time he was on 'hollywood squares'.

 

[TheDirtyWord]

I’m starting to realize that in a lot of these cases, the role that took the actor from JAG to superstardom is their signature role (at least as I see it).  Yes, Braveheart is awesome...but before Lethal Weapon, Gibson was solid/OK.  Obviously Mad Max was a great role, but didn’t transcend genres.

Riggs is when he exploded.

 

[Ilov80s]

I worked with Mel a long, long time ago when I was new to the movie biz. The first real "A-list" guy I was working with on a daily basis.

The first time I met him, spent about 4-5 minutes in the same room with him in a meeting. After I left, my first impression was "Lethal Weapon--he wasn't acting."

You'd be surprised how many "actors" aren't really acting. They're just being themselves. That's really how they are in real life. Mel was the first time I realized that.

Voted Riggs. That's him. 

Great info there, love it. I think there are 2 kind of “actors”. The true actors who inhabit characters. I think of people like Daniel Day Lewis and 70s/80s Deniro. Then we have movie stars who basically have a persona and they play some variation on that persona in almost every role. Think John Wayne or The Rock. 

 

[TheDirtyWord]

Or Mark Wahlburg, who's always confused about what he's doing there

How’s your Mother?

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

The true actors who inhabit characters. I think of people like Daniel Day Lewis and 70s/80s Deniro.

Yeah. And then you have a further division between types like Brando/DeNiro (Method) and  Laurence Olivier who worked "outside in". I recall there being some issues he had with Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man, but I don't know the details.

@Walking Boot how do you see divisions like this - between the actors preferred technique?

 

[Ilov80s]

Yeah. And then you have a further division between types like Brando/DeNiro (Method) and  Laurence Olivier who worked "outside in". I recall there being some issues he had with Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man, but I don't know the details.

@Walking Boot how do you see divisions like this - between the actors preferred technique?

One of the famous ones was Hitch when he cast Montgomery Clift. Clift was very method and Hitch was the type who had the whole movie sketched out ahead of time. He knew every shot he wanted and the last thing he wanted was an actor tying to make it more than just a story for entertainment.

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

One of the famous ones was Hitch when he cast Montgomery Clift. Clift was very method and Hitch was the type who had the whole movie sketched out ahead of time. He knew every shot he wanted and the last thing he wanted was an actor tying to make it more than just a story for entertainment.

Coool. I like these insights.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Braveheart is one of my 10 favorite movies ever, but Riggs is his signature role. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Amazing tidbits @Walking Boot

Being a director has to be a hell of a task 

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

...
But I can say that when a good actor shows up, you can tell right away. It's instantaneous. There's a certain clarity when they're on point, like, hearing a string vibrate perfectly in tune that stands out among all the others. When it hits right, it's pretty amazing to watch in person.

...

I love that analogy. I've only been able to see local theater - so I can't say I've seen top tier talent, but I understand the experience you describe. It's amazing even on that level. Something about being in person adds an extra element, imo.

And then you watch it as part of the whole, and, it just blends right in and doesn't even stand out as anything magic. It's weird, hard to explain. 

Understood - but I am feeling it pretty well from your words.

Just how they worked and you respected it. Everyone else did too, it doesn't make 'em bad or anything, though certainly they weren't as much "fun" to work with as the other types, but that's how it works for them. Gotta be professional about it. The art was making it all work together. The skill was being present and mindful of everyone's mindset and being able to coax what you needed out of them without unbalancing the whole thing.

I'll tell you, that "difficult" actor who wouldn't want you to talk to them while they were in character, no one on the crew really complained about. No best friends among the crew, sure, but no static either. But, one night, ####### network president came down to set with his ####### teenage kids who wanted to see the stars up close, and the president set up a couple of chairs right in between two of the cameras, front and center of the set, so his kids could watch it right in front of them... he got all the trash talk from the crew. Guy signs our checks and gave us our jobs and we all wanted to punch him in the nose. That actor couldn't really work with a couple of bubbly teens watching from a few feet away right in eyesight, and every one of the crew was on the actor's side of that. Couldn't believe the president tried to pull that and did everything they could to "encourage" him to reconsider that unprofessionalism. There was more animosity toward that guy and his whole team after that than ever toward anyone in the cast. No joke, we had actual t-shirts made up by the end calling them all out for their crap. Guy tried to fire the entire crew over that, one of my favorite moments. 

Great insights as 80's said.

Thanks for story.

 

[TheDirtyWord]

Yeah. And then you have a further division between types like Brando/DeNiro (Method) and  Laurence Olivier who worked "outside in". I recall there being some issues he had with Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man, but I don't know the details.

@Walking Boot how do you see divisions like this - between the actors preferred technique?

The story as it goes between Olivier and Hoffman was in preparation for the ‘dentist’ scene, Hoffman decided to not sleep for 2-3 days, mirroring his characters plight in the movie as a means to provide authenticity to the performance.  When informed that this was what Hoffman had done in preparation for that scene...Olivier responded with the comment ‘why doesn’t he just try acting...?’

 

[NutterButter]

I can see the rationale for this being a 2 horse race with lethal weapon being such an entertaining series, but you have to go braveheart.   I've never thought about rewatching lethal weapon while braveheart absolutely gets that treatment once a year.  It's just a great movie and he absolutely crushes it and theres a couple of genuine hotties in it.  

 

[NutterButter]

I love him in Lethal Weapon, but I don’t see how you vote that over Braveheart. 

This guy knows things

 

[need2know]

Great info there, love it. I think there are 2 kind of “actors”. The true actors who inhabit characters. I think of people like Daniel Day Lewis and 70s/80s Deniro. Then we have movie stars who basically have a persona and they play some variation on that persona in almost every role. Think John Wayne or The Rock. 

Keanu Reeves 

 

[TripItUp]

Braveheart has aged better than Lethal Weapon.

For that reason its William Wallace and it’s not particular close imho.

Millennials don’t know what Lethal Weapon is.

 

[TheDirtyWord]

Millennials don’t know what Lethal Weapon is.

Millennials don’t know what Mel Gibson is.

 

[TripItUp]

Millennials don’t know what Mel Gibson is.

They know Braveheart

 

[rockaction]

I actually went with Drunken Racist Sexist Jerk because that's really the role he played most definitively seeing as how it was just being himself.