Mel Gibson always was Hollywood’s most talented death-gasper, what with the rolling eyes and the melodramatic shuddering and, in one famous case, a final cry of “Freedom!”
Gibson reprised that scene in spectacular fashion Thursday, when his peers dragged his battered, barely-breathing career into the square, gutted it and fed it to the vultures.
Read also: Tension on 'Hangover 2' Doomed Mel Gibson's Cameo
We’ve seen enough Hollywood comeback stories – Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen – to know that even Gibson’s terrifying, racist rants against girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva could’ve been overcome someday.
But this – this feels different. This feels final.
Now Mel Gibson wears the scarlet letter of an outcast, after the cast and crew of “The Hangover 2” unanimously revolted against the news that he would be joining them for a cameo as a Bangkok tattoo artist.
Warner Brothers co-president Jeff Robinov and “Hangover” director Todd Phillips thought Gibson’s schtick could be funny, and each was feeling empathetic toward the “Mad Max” actor’s plight, individuals close to the production told TheWrap this week. What’s more, they figured, Gibson is a man of obvious talents; no matter what he’d said, he was going to be great.
And had it not leaked in the press, the role could’ve been one of those surprise, self-aware moments; a show of humility that set Gibson back on track.
Everything about “Bangkok tattoo artist” – slightly crazed, whiff of danger, probably very imbalanced – seemed to fit the that Cruise’s turn as psychotic film producer Les Grossman in “Tropic Thunder” set forth.
Everything, that is, but the timing. Unlike Cruise, who had laid low for awhile, this was way, way too soon.
Loath to be associated with Mel in any way, the cast and crew of “The Hangover,” inarguably the moment’s coolest kids in comedy, made a big fuss when he was invited to their table. The on-set tension got to be too much, so Robinov and Phillips bagged the idea.
Now, the next group of actors who find themselves in that position will have this to consider: Do they want the added shame of being the ones who accepted what Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms would not?
When Mel heard the news that he lost the gig over a cast revolt, he was “as gracious as a person can be in a situation like that,” a person close to the production told TheWrap.
But no amount of grace and image rehab can wash away the shame of being humiliated by the cool kids in front of everybody.
Follow Josh Dickey on Twitter at @JoshDickey.