It sounds like the cast of the Hangover all had the same reaction we did when we read about Mel Gibson's casting in a cameo role in the Hangover 2 (falling to our knees, raising our fists, and shouting "Noooooooo!" to the sky planet of the apes style, duh).
Rumor has it that the main 3 cast members (Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms) all pretty much issued a "
hell no" to the casting (which makes me love them all more). Of course, director Todd Phillips had this to say: "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew."
Sorry, Todd, you may have given us both Old School and the Hangover, but you're pretty much dead to me after that one. Attempting to throw Mel Gibson's career a lifeline after the decades of despicable things he's done is pretty unforgiveable for me (US magazine has been kind enough to provide a brief
slideshow of some of his controversies, but for my money,
Cracked tells it best (as usual) (no, seriously, read that article)).
Of course, this does raise an interesting question- why were we okay with convicted rapist (and ear-biter) Mike Tyson's cameo? The Bibes (aka Entertainment Weekly) does a
pretty good job analyzing this dilemma, which I hadn't really considered before. I think the answer is most likely the one they come up with- time, though in a different way than they present it. Not as in that people think he's paid for his crime, but more that they've pretty much forgotten he's a rapist. People remember the crazy and the ear-biting, but, sadly, that other piece of his history is overlooked. I don't think this is an argument for why we should be okay with Gibson, but more why we shouldn't have been okay with Tyson, but it's a little late for that now.
On the happier side of things, all around dreamboat and 3pies4rolls favorite Liam Neeson continues his "fuck it, I made Schindler's List, now I can do whatever the hell I want and still be considered a great actor (see: Taken, Clash of the Titans, The A-Team, Battleship)" tour, and
will take over the cameo from Mel.
