Mel Gibson Turned Down ‘Batman’, ‘Rain Man’, ‘Gladiator’, and James Bond

As one of the biggest stars in Hollywood throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and even into the 2000s before his highly-publicized personal issues made headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons to derail his mainstream career, Mel Gibson would have been fielding high-profile offers left, right, and center on either side of the camera.

That comes with the territory when you’ve got a proven track record of box office success, not to mention an ability to seamlessly dovetail between hard-hitting dramatic performances and high-octane action blockbusters. Gibson’s filmography is littered with smash hits as a result, then, but he’s also knocked back several huge projects during that time.

At an event attended by We Got This Covered, the Lethal Weapon star was asked if he’d ever be interested in playing a superhero or a supervillain. On top of admitting that he’s not really interested in the genre at all, Gibson revealed he’d been “offered the Batsuit three times”, but knocked it back on each occasion.

Click to zoom 

When the conversation turned to roles he turned down that proved to be hugely successful after the fact, the actor and filmmaker reflected on rejecting James Bond in the aftermath of the Roger Moore era, saying he wasn’t ready to commit to the role at the tender age of only 26, with Timothy Dalton ultimately throwing on the tux instead.

If that wasn’t enough, Gibson also passed on Best Picture winners Rain Man and Gladiator, after being sought for Dustin Hoffman’s part in the former, while he declined Ridley Scott’s historical epic in favor of The Patriot. Those are some seriously heavy hitters to reject, but the 66 year-old did outline that he doesn’t have any regrets over the way things panned out.

Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images

As one of the biggest stars in Hollywood throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and even into the 2000s before his highly-publicized personal issues made headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons to derail his mainstream career, Mel Gibson would have been fielding high-profile offers left, right, and center on either side of the camera.

That comes with the territory when you’ve got a proven track record of box office success, not to mention an ability to seamlessly dovetail between hard-hitting dramatic performances and high-octane action blockbusters. Gibson’s filmography is littered with smash hits as a result, then, but he’s also knocked back several huge projects during that time.

At an event attended by We Got This Covered, the Lethal Weapon star was asked if he’d ever be interested in playing a superhero or a supervillain. On top of admitting that he’s not really interested in the genre at all, Gibson revealed he’d been “offered the Batsuit three times”, but knocked it back on each occasion.

Click to zoom 

When the conversation turned to roles he turned down that proved to be hugely successful after the fact, the actor and filmmaker reflected on rejecting James Bond in the aftermath of the Roger Moore era, saying he wasn’t ready to commit to the role at the tender age of only 26, with Timothy Dalton ultimately throwing on the tux instead.

If that wasn’t enough, Gibson also passed on Best Picture winners Rain Man and Gladiator, after being sought for Dustin Hoffman’s part in the former, while he declined Ridley Scott’s historical epic in favor of The Patriot. Those are some seriously heavy hitters to reject, but the 66 year-old did outline that he doesn’t have any regrets over the way things panned out.