14 DAY TRIAL // Mel Gibson was hoping to make a career comeback with a light comedic role in what is probably the most anticipated comedy sequel of recent years, “The Hangover 2,” but his cameo has been axed after the cast protested about it.
As fans must know, Gibson’s personal life continues to be at the forefront, as a judge is looking into domestic violence charges made by his ex, Oksana Grigorieva.
While, earlier this year, Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly refused to work on a film with Gibson, it seems now that there are more actors not eager to put their name next to his on the credits.
Contact Music says the cameo has been axed because the members of the cast of “Hangover” openly expressed their dissatisfaction at having to work with Gibson.
Though the movie studio will not admit to it, director Todd Phillips hints at tension on set after confirmation of the Gibson cameo, which led to the decision to ax it altogether.
“I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of (Warner Brothers boss) Jeff Robinov and his team,” Phillips says in a statement cited by the aforementioned e-zine.
“But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew,” the director further explains.
This would seem to confirm a report of a few days ago, according to which the decision to have Gibson on board the sequel had gotten some of the cast members really upset.
Admittedly, Mel was to take on a small part of a tattoo artist that would, at one point, ink one of the drunken characters, but Zach Galifianakis was not exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing the same set with him.
“But a movie you’re acting in, you don’t have a lot of control – you just show up and vomit your lines out. I’m not the boss,” Zach said in a recent interview cited by NY Mags’ Vulture, as we also informed you.
At the time, it wasn’t known whether he was referring to Mel Gibson and the “Hangover” cameo, but all signs seem to indicate now that he was.
“I’m in a deep protest right now with a movie I’m working on, up in arms about something. But I can’t get the guys to [listen]... I’m not making any leeway,” he added.
“It has something to do with a movie I’m working on, yeah. I’ll tell you about it later. It’s very frustrating,” the actor also said, preventing the interviewer from naming “The Hangover 2.”