Oscar-winning actor and director Mel Gibson has revealed that he was originally offered the lead role in Ridley Scott’s historical epic Gladiator but ultimately had to turn it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role, of course, eventually went to Russell Crowe, who won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for it.
At the time the movie was in pre-production, Gibson was best known for his breakout role in the Mad Max franchise and later as the star of the Lethal Weapon series before he became known for directing, winning the Best Director award for his historical epic Braveheart. Gibson would also go on to direct acclaimed movies like The Passion of the Christ and Hacksaw Ridge, but also Flight Risk. However, he could have added another Oscar to his shelf before a packed calendar got in the way.
During a panel at MegaCon Orlando, attended by ScreenRant, Gibson confirmed that he had been in line to portray Maximus in Gladiator, but scheduling conflicts with Roland Emmerich’s Revolutionary War epic The Patriot meant he wouldn’t be able to do both films. Speaking on his decision, Gibson reflected on the missed opportunity: “You go back and you think, ‘Well, I wish I’d done that.’ Ridley [Scott] came to me with Gladiator and I didn’t do that either. But I was doing The Patriot, so I couldn’t do Gladiator, so Russell got it, and he did a great job. It’s kind of interesting, the things you missed.”
Gibson would have been a very sensible choice for Scott if he wanted an established leading man who was familiar with historical epics. The comparisons between Braveheart and Gladiator likely played a role in Scott’s interest in casting Mel Gibson, given the similar themes of both movies, with Gibson’s tale of William Wallace being a huge smash with the Academy Awards in the mid-90s. Gibson would probably have made Maximus a slightly rougher character around the edges too, so we could have missed out on Crowe’s more subtle and emotionally tormented take on the role.
The film Gladiator won a total of five Academy Awards from 12 nominations, including Crowe’s Best Actor award, Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. It grossed $460.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $103 million and was the second highest-grossing film of 2000, behind Tom Cruise‘s Mission: Impossible 2.
