Source: CBS
Posted: 1999

You know Mel Gibson: He's the actor who always stars as some kind of lovable if roguish hero in big-budget Hollywood productions. Right? Think again.

Mr. Gibson is in the midst of filming one of his most unlikely parts in years, as Porter, an unrepentant, greedy killer in an offbeat, gritty, low-budget thriller called ''Payback.''

''He's somebody with a totally nihilistic nature,'' Mr. Gibson said this week in an interview after a day of shooting. ''In fact, he's about the most heartless guy I've ever played.''

''Nobody's wearing any bright colors,'' he added. ''It should be a black-and-white film.''

The film was written and is being directed by a first-time director, Brian Helgeland, who described his vision in an interview this way: ''I don't like all that polished, slick stuff you see these days. I want it to feel a little rough around the edges.''

Mr. Helgeland, once a commercial fisherman in Massachusetts, wrote the screenplay for Mr. Gibson's last film, ''Conspiracy Theory.'' Toward the end of that project, he began to tell friends of his plans to write and direct what has become ''Payback,'' based on Donald Westlake's novel, ''The Hunter.'' Mr. Gibson heard about it and, as Mr. Helgeland tells it, called to ask if he could play a part.

''My initial reaction was, 'I have to figure out how to tell him he can't be involved,' '' Mr. Helgeland said, adding that he had intended to spend about $7 million and use a B-grade cast. But Mr. Gibson, hearing of the story of a criminal seeking revenge after being double-crossed, insisted on reading the script. There was only a partial draft, but he loved it.

Several weeks of filming just ended in Chicago, and the movie will be completed here in mid-November, Mr. Helgeland said. It will cost a relatively paltry sum, less than $20 million, he said. It is expected to be released next summer.

Mr. Gibson said it was fun to work with Mr. Helgeland because of his rookie eagerness. ''There's no jaded character at all,'' he said.

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