10 Actors Who Refused To Make Sacrifices For Roles
8. Mel Gibson Wasn't Ready To Be A Gladiator - Gladiator
Not to bring the mood down, but some things are just inevitable. And father time getting to us all in the end is one of them, I'm afraid.
Academy Award winner Mel Gibson had seemingly fully accepted this fact when Ridley Scott initially approached the star of Braveheart about the concept of leading his incoming project about a betrayed Roman general by the name of Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Had the part fallen into his lap a few years earlier, there's probably a world where Gibson would've been willing to put his body through the necessary hell required to believably play an ass-kicking gladiator for the feature of the same title. But, despite the fact he was still only in his early 40's around the time of shooting, Gibson felt he was simply too over the hill to put his body through the many gruelling battle sequences seen in Scott's 2000 epic.
Russel Crowe would thankfully step in later in the day and was more than up for the task of having Maximus' vengeance on screen. In doing so, his performance will likely echo in eternity...