The Continental director defends Mel Gibson casting

The Continental director defends his decision to cast Mel Gibson despite the actor’s incredibly controversial past.

The John Wick spin-off The Continental recently premiered its first of three action-packed and heart pounding episodes.

The series follows con man Winston Scott as he works his way up to become the owner of The Continental, a chain of assassins-only hotels.

However, though the show has received mostly positive reviews, one universal critique is the casting of problematic actor Mel Gibson – but the show’s director recently came to support the decision to include Gibson at all.

Continental director “sees past” Gibson’s controversy

During a recent interview with TV Insider, The Continental director Albert Hughes defended the decision to cast Gibson in the mini series.

“There’s a separation of what I know about his career behind the camera, what I know about his career in front of the camera, and what we needed for the role,” Hughes said, “What I’ve heard for the last 40 years about how he is on set, whatever you may think or say about him, he is a pro who is very egalitarian on the set. He treats people with respect.

“He talks to PAs, he talks to extras. What we all are familiar with from Lethal Weapon and all those other movies is those zingers that he has. Those aren’t in the script. That’s Mel.

“He starts playing with words,” Hughes continued. “In Episode 3, he plays one word in particular that’s real touchy. If you read into it and you see what he’s playing with, they’re very sensitive issues.  I expressed to him, you have to go there, because we’re poking fun at this type of character who is very ignorant [about] where people are from, the crazy uncle we all know.”

Gibson, who plays current Continental owner Cormac in the series, is a controversial figure in Hollywood as he has a history of stating anti-semitic comments while in the public eye. Gibson has since apologized.

While Hollywood has the right to keep casting Gibson in their projects, Hughes and other directors shouldn’t be surprised if some audience members steer clear from their works.

The Continental Episode 1 is now streaming through Peacock. You can also check out our other John Wick coverage below:

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