‘He opened doors for us', says Hollywood's Mel Gibson as he reveals who helped Braveheart film in Ireland 30 years later
Mel, 69, signed posters at the Trim Castle Hotel and posed for a selfie with fans, including Adam Walker and his son Nathan.
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Actor Mel Gibson attended the local King John Summer Prom festival
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
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He was one of the main cast in Braveheart
Credit: Alamy
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Fans Adam and Nathan took pictures with the actor
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
The event was held as part of the local King John Summer Prom festival, and the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Irish Equity Support Fund.
Many fans were seen queuing at Trim Castle Hotel to meet the famous Gibson and other Braveheart cast members.
And a young fan, Maksim Okhotnikov, aged 8, dressed up as Braveheart hero William Wallace in a costume created by his mother for the event.
He revealed to PA News Agency that he didn't watch the entire film except for some clips due to the age cert, which is rated 16+.
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But he also said that the thing he liked most from the clips was the character William Wallace, whom Mel played in the film.
Adam and his son, Nathan, aged 7, were among the first people into the room to meet the cast of Braveheart.
Talking to the PA, Adam said: "Obviously he's too young to watch the full movie, so I was trying to show him the quotes, the big freedom speech at the end of the movie.
"We were watching that, we were watching the mad Irishman of course: David O'Hara who plays Stephen of Ireland.
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"We were at the Q&A yesterday and a lot of the lads pointed out that the actors said the thing that it did was it really changed things, Ireland seemed to really latch onto it, there was a lot of similarities between the Irish and the Scottish, but it seemed to call out to everybody.
"We were looking for a wedding venue 12 years back and we were looking everywhere and we found here, it was lovely, the prices were great, and then I read at the end the castle was where Braveheart was filmed.
Pubgoers shocked as they spot Hollywood A-lister sinking pints outside London pub
"I said to my wife 'we're doing it' so we got married in the room just there and we had the castle as the backdrop."
Adam pointed out that it was unreal to return to the same venue and meet the very Mel Gibson in the flesh.
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HOLLYWOOD STAR'S TRUTH
The classic film had some of its key scenes filmed in Ireland, although the film is set in Scotland.
This was due to the Irish government lobbying and offering to supply 1,600 army reserves as extras in order to help their film productions while gaining some potential tourism.
Mel Gibson also revealed to RTE News that they struggled to film big battle scenes in Scotland due to the ground not being 'friendly' enough for the horses.
This led the whole film production to relocate to Ireland to film the battle scenes, with scenes filmed in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
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He also told how then Arts Minister Michael D Higgins helped get the flick made, adding: "He opened doors for us."
It was said that the President welcomed the whole cast with open arms at the time, making their production more seamless and efficient.
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Maksim Okhotnikov dressed up as William Wallace, a character that Mel plays
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
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Many fans were thrilled to meet the cast at the event
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
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