Mel Gibson – whose next film, The Beaver, is set to open stateside on the 6th of May – has spoken out for the first time since taped portions of his conversation with his ex-girlfriend were leaked online. Sold to Deadline “because editors at other media outlets seemed inclined to use this story to pursue their own agendas”, Allison Hope Weiner sat down with the Braveheart actor in the offices of his Icon production company for a revealing discussion of his recent run of controversies.

While Gibson made it clear that he could quite easily give up acting if he had to, something he found himself repeating throughout the interview as Weiner failed to grasp the apparent size of the matter, he also announced his plans to reunite with Braveheart’s Randy Wallace for a swashbucking adaptation of one of the screenwriter’s own books.

“It’s total bodice-ripping swashbuckling stuff, but it’s funny. It’s funny and yet it’s got really good serious undertones too. Randy writes a decent script. And I responded to it right away. I thought this is hilarious. I’ve got to do this. And I’m not the main guy in the film — which is great. “

He seems totally in tune with what happened, though shows an understandable resistance to letting it dominate his life. Explaining that the edit of the taped conversation which reached the internet was not the full story, and that his drunken rants were unrepresentative of his core beliefs and values, Mel Gibson approached the more controversial topics with disbelief, perfectly acceptable considering how ridiculous some of the questions were. “Do you feel regret over what you said on the tapes?” Er…gee Weiner, you’d better let him think about that one?

“Who anticipates being recorded? Who anticipates that? Who could anticipate such a personal betrayal?”

“I’ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality — period. I don’t blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited. You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship. It’s one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn’t represent what I truly believe or how I’ve treated people my entire life.”

It doesn’t take an expert to know that you do things when you’re drunk that are out of character, undignified and that you’d rather forget. I for one do not hold any ill feeling towards Gibson, who was clearly milked for all the tabloid-filler possible. I become exponentially more sympathetic, however, when I see someone being asked questions such as:

“You were going to do a small part in Hangover II. How did you respond to being asked to do that and then having cast members not want you in it? How did it feel to have them allow a convicted rapist [Mike Tyson] in the movie and not you?”

Ouch. Good thing, then, that Gibson approached the questions with humour and humility, showing no ill-feeling to those who reacted negatively to the situation (like the cast of Hangover II), while showing respect and gratitude to those who came to his aid when he needed them most – Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster in particular.

You can find the full interview here, however I can only ask that if you have ever drunk-dialled, fallen out with your nearest and dearest after a few pitchers, or turned to a puppet for support and guidance in your hour of need, that you go see The Beaver. Whatever your opinion of Mel Gibson’s public persona, and as Deadline state from the outset, Gibson’s performance is being hailed as “the best of his career”.