Albert Hughes, the director of The Continental From The World Of John Wick has defended the casting of Mel Gibson in the prequel TV series. Hughes has stated that ‘personal life stuff’ is not his business. Hughes directed two of the three upcoming episodes.
“I cast [Gibson] based on his past work that I grew up on,” Hughes told the New York Post. “And I think he fit the role perfectly. I think once fans see it, they’ll understand why. The personal stuff is not my business to talk about.”
Gibson plays the role of Cormac, who manages the New York Continental in the show, which will premiere Friday.
Gibson’s casting has received some backlash on social media.
“john wick without keanu (and with Mel Gibson) is not john wick at all,” one user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Another added, “I’m so angry at this because I wanted to watch Katie McGrath (and I like John Wick movies), but I can’t stomach watching Mel Gibson ever again.”
“Torn honestly,” one user wrote. “Love the John Wick franchise but despise and loathe Mel Gibson.”
“It was the usual (casting) process,” Hughes explained to TVLine. “In Hollywood, it’s always about, like, the five names for one role, and then you go about systematically seeing who’s available, whose people respond. …The personal life stuff, that’s not my place to get into.”
“I was always a fan of the ‘John Wick’ movies, and what Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves did,” Hughes told the New York Post.
“I said, ‘Man, it looks like they’re having fun. I want to have fun. You don’t want someone imitating Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski. You already have that, and it’s done wonderfully well.”
Gibson has been shunned by Hollywood mostly after he was arrested for DUI in 2006 during which the actor-director had gone on an antisemitic rant. In 2010, tapes of Gibson shouting the N-word and other racist remarks at his girlfriend at the time, Oksana Grigorieva, were leaked.
The actor later apologised for the antisemitic rant.
“There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of antisemitic remark,” Gibson said at the time in a statement obtained by The New York Times.
“I want to apologise 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 statement continued. “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.”
