3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Hollywood A-lister Mel Gibson reveals REAL reason Braveheart wasn't filmed in Scotland
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MEL Gibson has made a surprising confession and revealed the real reason why some Braveheart scenes weren't filmed in Scotland.
The Aussie-born superstar, 69, portrayed legendary Scots freedom fighter Sir William Wallace, whilst also directing the 1995 blockbuster.
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Mel Gibson has revealed the real reason why some Braveheart scenes weren't filmed in Scotland
Credit: Getty
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The Oscar-winning epic is celebrating its 30th anniversary
Credit: Alamy
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But Mel said they encountered problems whilst filming battle scenes
Credit: Alamy
And he has now revealed why some key scenes were actually filmed in Ireland and not Scotland.
He came clean at a special event as part of King John's Summer Prom Festival at the Trim Castle Hotel, Co Meath, as the Oscar-winning epic celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Mel explained that while they were filming in Scotland for the £150million movie, they struggled when it came to big battle scenes.
This was because the ground wasn't as "friendly" for the horses, and they were then invited to film these scenes over in Ireland.
RTÉ News shared a clip of Mel opening up about the scenes after thanking the people of Ireland for the role they played in the making of Braveheart.
They posted: "Mr Gibson, who directed, produced and starred in the 1995 film, was speaking in Trim today as part of a series of events that are taking place to mark the 30th anniversary of the making of the movie.
We filmed for six weeks in Scotland, and it did everything we wanted it to... we got a lot of great stuff there
Mel Gibson
"Despite its Scottish setting, the iconic film was primarily shot in Ireland with locations in counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow providing the landscape for many of its medieval scenes."
In the video, Mel said: "Initially, we went to Scotland, and, of course, it was fantastic.
"We filmed for six weeks in Scotland, and it did everything we wanted it to, I mean, Ben Nevis, you know, fits perfectly in the frame, and we got a lot of great stuff there.
"But, unfortunately, for the big battle scenes, the ground in Scotland wasn't as horse-friendly as here [Ireland].
Braveheart fans go mad for Mel Gibson as he's asked about independence
"So, you had more horses, and the ground was friendlier to the horses.
"And so we were fortunate at the time that the Minister for Arts and Culture was Michael D. Higgins, and he opened up the doors for us and said, 'Hey, we got good ground, we got horses, we got the reserve army'.
"And they were all within proximity.
"So that was a great help in achieving what we had to achieve, and we achieved it, I think."
Michael D. Higgins, and he opened up the doors for us... that was a great help in achieving what we had to achieve
Mel Gibson
Fans flocked to the comments of the post after being impressed with Mel's latest revelation.
One person said: "Say what you want about Mel, Braveheart is a masterpiece".
Another added: "Brilliant story!"
Someone else wrote: "One of my all-time favourite movies".
While a fourth posted: "Very cool!!"
And a fifth chimed in: "One of the best films made".
The comments come after Mel recently admitted that he faked it as a film director when he was making Braveheart.
He revealed that he had to pretend to the crew and enormous cast that he was totally in control of the £150million blockbuster.
At another event celebrating the film's 30th anniversary at a Fan Expo convention in Philadelphia, US, he said he has to "pretend" to know what he was doing whilst on set.
Mel recalled: "It was only my second outing as a director, and it was a massive shoot.
ACCENT HELP
A FORMER child star from Braveheart has revealed how he used to slag off Mel Gibson's dodgy Scots accent on set.
And it led to the Hollywood A-lister to beg him to help improve his brogue.
ndrew Weir, from Ayr, played William Wallace's best pal Hamish in the Oscar-winning flick.
And he even managed to get family friend James Robinson a crucial part as the young freedom fighter.
But the pair would regularly fall into hysterics at the Aussie actor's attempt to master our dialect.
Andrew, who now lives in New York, previously said: 'I think Mel liked that we were kids and not intimidated by him.
"We used to laugh at his accent, and he would ask us to help him make it better.'
'There were about 3,000 people on the set. They're all looking at you like you know what you're doing.
'So I pretended I knew what I was doing. But somehow it all came together.
"Logistically speaking, it was a monster — from feeding everybody to getting them all to look like they were in the war.'
Gibson said his 'proudest achievement' was avoiding serious injuries in the movie's many battle scenes.
He explained: 'One guy got a hangnail and another got a broken nose and twisted ankle, but that was it.
'It was a long shoot — there were 105 shooting days. We didn't get any days off.'
'But I'm really proud of the end result. It really paid off.'
