Casting What-Ifs
Mel Gibson was the presumptive Max until he declined around 2003 for The Passion of the Christ; Heath Ledger was considered before his death in 2008
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:47Read transcript
- There are few casting what-ifs: conceived in the 80s shortly after Beyond Thunderdome, the film had Mel Gibson as presumptive Max until about 2003, when another round of funding came through and he declined because he had become fascinated by the story that became The Passion of the Christ.
- Heath Ledger was considered before his death in 2008, which opens the question of whether he would have suited the role better than Tom Hardy.
- Asked whether anyone else should realistically have played Max, Heath Ledger is raised again as a cool idea, Statham is rejected as too comic-y, and nobody would be picked over Tom Hardy for the role.