Mel Gibson Visits The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Mel Gibson is many things. One of them is out promoting his newest film, Get The Gringo written by Gibson with Stacy Perskie and director Adrian Grunberg. It's not exactly a secret that the actor and director has had his troubles over the years and every time he seems to almost fade out of tabloid territory and possibly be ready to return with real projects, something else seems to befall the man. This latest incident, involved the already headline making decision of Mel's to produce and direct a film based on the tale of Jewish hero Judah Macabee and the project's ensuing deterioration.

Gibson turned to Showgirls screenwriter Joe Ezsterhas to pen the project, and after Warner Bros. passed on the script the writer saw fit to release a recording of the two having an argument, which was more one-sided shouting than real debate. The glaring question - how was there a tape of the argument? Well, the not so ethical Ezsterhas went in wired for some bizarre reason and recorded the rantings. All very classy behavior, however, what is interesting is that with the impending release of Get The Gringo, Gibson is still out doing the press rounds, well, the ones with kids gloves like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Watch the Lethal Weapon on Leno, and trust me, if you like awkward, 'Part I' is not to be missed.

Part I

Part II

The first part of the interview is incredibly awkward despite how delicately Jay treats his guest and how (not) surprisingly receptive the audience is to Mel and his story. Kudos for the guy to have the guts to go on the air and, well, air his grievances. He tries very hard to comes across as reasonable - and he makes a fair point about how underhanded it was for Ezsterhas to tape him - but the nerves do not help and he comes across as more than a little rattled. That's being nice.

The second part is fair less awkward and might resemble an interview that the Mel Gibson of old would have when he knew What Women Want and not, you know, talking ill of them under the influence. I'm always one to say that the artist and his work should be kept separate so I'll continue to watch what Gibson makes - especially when he gets behind the camera - as long as it's not another Passion or Macabee project. Let's avoid those topics for now Mel and, uh, you've always got that offer for Robert Rodriguez' Machete Kills.