Good times. Filming PAYBACK in 1997. He was nice to me, told a horribly raunchy ‘fag joke,’ smoked about three packs of cigarettes and hocked up a lung in between every take, taught me how to light a match ‘the cool way(strike it towards yourself, not away from your face)’ and was one of the most technically impressive actors I’ve ever seen work. In the end, I was cut out of the film when Mad Mel ‘took over’ from the director Brian Helgeland. Technically, an actor isn’t allowed to take over a movie from the director, so Mel hired his hairdresser as a figurehead and did the dirty work himself. He reshot something like 90% of the movie and cut it himself and the result was execrable. But hugely profitable.

Three years ago, after my screenwriting career had taken off, Mr. Helgeland and I had the same manager. He invited me to a screening of PAYBACK STRAIGHT UP: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT. Sir Gibson had graciously allowed him to take the film back, recut it and re-release it on DVD. And so, on the big ol’ Arclight screen, 35 year old me saw 25 year old me get clobbered by Mel Gibson for the first time. And the new cut, while still not great, isn’t bad.  I remember how small Mel seemed to me at the time. He seems so much smaller now.