MovieChat Forums > Mel Gibson Discussion > Why are the vast majority of his charact...

Why are the vast majority of his characters widowers?


This always puzzled me. I know that not all of his characters are widowers, but it seems that the bulk of them are. Was this something that just was coincidence as time went by or was it something that he insisted on while he was married to his wife?(now ex-wife)

reply

Great question that I've never thought of..my best guess is they wanted him to be an eligible bachelor but not a rogue..a loveable, handsome guy that every lady dreams of.

reply

[deleted]

I see what you mean and I agree. I feel like portraying a character who is vulnerable yet still an absolute badass is one of the hardest tasks for movie actors - it seems that very few can actually pull it off (Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Denzel Washington are three actors who pull that off amazingly well)

reply

[deleted]

Oh, thought the vast majority of his characters were crazy from Madmax to Lethal Weapon.

reply

So he can be a dutiful husband but also available. Widowers have some sort of inherent martyrdom/saintliness about them. Which is attractive to women.

It's a cake and eat it situation. Playing a divorced guy or a middle aged bachelor is not as good for his image and his Catholic sense of vanity.

reply

Too bad about the alcoholism and racism. Otherwise, he's every woman's dream guy

reply