[quote] Jason Isaacs Recalls Tense Conversation with Mel Gibson Over His 'Antisemitic Outburst': 'He's Not My Friend'
Twenty-five years after the two actors starred opposite one another in the 2000 historical action film The Patriot, Isaacs, 62, said in an interview with Vulture that Gibson, 69, has "said and done some things that are unconscionable and unforgivable," leading him not to want to see his former costar.
"I was invited by my friend to some charity cricket event for Australians in film. And he said, 'If you come, Mel will.' And I said, 'I don't want to see Mel.' I hadn't seen him since that terrible antisemitic outburst when he got stopped by the police," recalled Isaacs, who is Jewish.
Gibson faced intense scrutiny and public outrage in the wake of his 2006 arrest for drunk driving and a subsequent antisemitic rant.
Isaacs ultimately decided to go to the charity event. As he recalled to Vulture, "Mel was there, and he called 'Jace' across the room, very friendly. I went, 'Rabbi Gibson, how are we?' "
"He came up and he said, 'I was really drunk, man. I was trying to get him to hit me or shoot me or something. I’m having a terrible time,' " continued the White Lotus star. "And he proceeded to unload some very personal things."
After admitting of Gibson, "He’s not my friend," Isaacs added, "but — maybe to my eternal shame — I forgave him instantly because he was there making himself vulnerable."
Following his arrest in 2006, Gibson issued a lengthy apology for his remarks, which were detailed in the police report.
“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,” the Lethal Weapon star said in a statement.
Isaacs told Vulture that he doesn't believe you can "forgive everything from everyone," and clarified of his own feelings toward Gibson, "I’m not saying I forgive Mel."
"I’ve seen him once a decade for five minutes. We text each other once in a blue moon about something or other," the Harry Potter alum continued. "I don’t know what to do with the fact that he put a character into The Passion of the Christ which is essentially a Jewish demon that doesn’t exist in the gospels. I have no idea what to do about him."
"But if he knocked on my door tonight and said, 'Look, my hotel’s canceled. Can I stay?' I’d say, 'Yes,' probably," Isaacs added.
