Mel Gibson used to be one of the few actors back in the early ‘80s and through the ‘90s who gave several hits, such as the Mad Max series, Lethal Weapon, and Braveheart – which was also his directorial achievement. But even after all that fame, he couldn’t make peace with one of his most notable physical attributes – his “short height.”
Although not many people in the industry know about his short height, his “Napoleon complex,” along with his many controversies hampered his career in acting and made him make the switch to directing.
A rather insecure Mel Gibson, while on the set of the comedy film Maverick back in ‘94 used to stand on surfaces a bit higher than his co-stars. The film also had 2-time Academy Award-winning actor Jodie Foster. During a scene on a boat, a set extra found out that Gibson desperately wanted to look taller than her. Foster is only 1.6m tall.
Mel Gibson And His Love For Boxes
While working as an extra can be tiring, it can also be rewarding in some cases as they get to witness everything from the nearest distance possible. During the shoot of Maverick, Gibson used to stand on boxes so that he could look considerably taller than Foster.
Mel Gibson must have had it in his contract that his height be kept private as people do not know to this day that he is not even as tall as his Braveheart co-star, Sophie Marceau.
According to the extra on Maverick –
“I was an extra in the movie. We were a small group for the exterior boat scenes and spent an average of 12 hours on the scenes. Mel Gibson is surprisingly short and had to stand on boxes to look taller than Jodie Foster.”
The film however went on to accumulate a massive $183 million at the box office and was a smashing hit, given the times.
Is Mel Gibson Really That Adamant About His Height?
Mel Gibson is one overtly proud and loud actor who wouldn’t mind being childishly adamant about the things he believes in. It was seen when he defended his film Hacksaw Ridge while trash talking about Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman back in 2016. The other thing is his short height.
In a book published by Barry Norman who happens to be a reputed Hollywood critic, he mentioned the 67-year-old actor was clearly under six feet.
During their visit at a private dinner party, Norman and Gibson locked horns about the latter’s height. He even went on to share what exactly happened between the two in his book.
“Mel Gibson insisted he was as tall as I was. I disagreed politely on the grounds that I was just over 6ft and he most certainly wasn’t.”
Gibson got infuriated at this, while another guest suggested both stand back-to-back to clear up any confusion. Norman shared that he felt Gibson lifting himself up on his toes to match his height.
“I just looked down at him and said: ‘OK, if you’re happy, I’m happy’, but God knows what all that was about.”
Mel Gibson is currently appearing as Cormac in The Continental: From the World of John Wick which is airing on Peacock.
Source: The Things
