Garfield, who stars in the new romance ‘We Live in Time,’ recalls working with Gibson on the 2016 war drama ‘Hacksaw Ridge’
Andrew Garfield has nothing but fond memories of working with director Mel Gibson on the 2016 war drama Hacksaw Ridge.
For a Movies of My Life feature in the new issue of PEOPLE, Garfield reflected on several of his films, including his new romance We Live in Time, The Amazing Spider-Man and the Gibson-directed Hacksaw Ridge.
Asked what he learned from working with Oscar-winning Braveheart director Gibson, 68, Garfield, 41, said, “I learned a lot, actually. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help. I learned that everyone deserves respect,” he said. “And that people deserve second chances, third chances, fourth chances. That none of us are infallible.”
Before making the movie about World War II soldier Desmond Doss, a pacifist who refused to carry a gun while serving in the Army, the Jewish actor said he had “deep, important conversations” with Gibson, who made anti-Semitic statements when he was arrested for a DUI in 2006.
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“He’s done a lot of beautiful healing with himself,” Garfield added. “And thank God. Because he’s an amazing filmmaker, and I think he deserves to make films. He deserves to tell stories, because he has a very, very big, compassionate heart.”
“He’s the kind of director that would come from behind the monitors, just with his eyes wet,” remembered Garfield. “He knew when it was right and he knew when it wasn’t right. And I just really trusted him. And he’s a visceral storyteller so he can feel… He’s like he can’t help but feel everything. He’s a real empathetic guy.”
Following his arrest in 2006, Gibson issued a lengthy apology for his remarks, which were detailed in the police report.
“There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge,” the Lethal Weapon star said in a statement.
“I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words,” continued Gibson, who began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the wake of his arrest.
Related: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh’s Chemistry Is on Full Display in Clip from We Live in Time (Exclusive)
Eight years after Hacksaw Ridge, Garfield is starring in We Live in Time, a tearjerker romance about newly single Tobias who falls for talented chef Almut (Florence Pugh). The story, which is not told chronologically, shows how the pair meet, embark on a romance and deal with Almut’s cancer diagnosis.
We Live in Time is in select theaters now before expanding on Friday, Oct. 18.
For more on Andrew Garfield, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.
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