In 1983, Mel Gibson could well have obtained a role that has become legendary. But the actor, already well known, was whistled for the place by a young actor that nobody knew.
Mel Gibson got passed over. The 66-year-old actor has nothing to be ashamed of his career, which began at the very end of the 1970s. For more than 50 years, he has chained legendary roles: that of Mad Max, that of Martin Riggs in the Lethal weapon or that of William Wallace in Braveheart to name a few. But there is a character that passed under his nose. In 1983, director Milos Forman contacted him to offer him a role that had become legendary: that of Mozart in the biopic Amadeus. If Mel Gibson has passed the tests to embody the composer of genius, just like Mick Jagger and Mark Hamill, it is ultimately not the actor who was chosen.
“One day, when I was at a complete impasse in terms of casting, I realized something obvious, confided Milos Forman, as reported First. When you look at the portraits of Mozart painted at the time, there is something striking: no two are alike. It was therefore that he had no salient features, that there was nothing very remarkable about him, he looked neither like a leader nor a hero. It was therefore the opposite of a star. This is the type of actor I needed!“ Instead of Mel Gibson, Tom Hulce slipped into Mozart’s shoes. At the time, a still little known young actor, he seduced the world of cinema and spectators with his embodied interpretation of the composer. A role that earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in the Best Actor category in 1985.
Amadeus: Milos Forman’s hidden technique for casting
The cast ofAmadeus, the director worked on it. To find the entire cast of his son, he had no less than 1,400 auditions! It is thanks to this that he discovered F. Murray Abraham, to whom he gave the role of Salieri, the one which allowed him to win the Oscar for Best Actor, in 1995. “When I had just been chosen for a very secondary character in the plot, and was about to return home, happy, I was caught up by Miloš who was then auditioning a young guy for the role of Mozarttold the actor. He offered to give me the line in Salieri just ‘to lend a hand’. So I was very laid back and I must have been very good because I finally got the part. But Miloš confessed to me later, this ‘helping hand’ was nothing but a disguised audition…” This genius biopic won eight Oscars the year it was released.
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© Backgrid USA
3/12 –
Mel Gibson
For more than 50 years, he has chained the mythical roles: that of Mad Max, that of Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon or that of William Wallace in Braveheart to name but a few.
© Agency
4/12 –
Mel Gibson
In 1983, the director Milos Forman contacted him to offer him a role that had become legendary: that of Mozart in the biopic Amadeus
© Chris Delmas
5/12 –
Mel Gibson
If Mel Gibson has indeed passed the tests to embody the composer of genius, just like Mick Jagger and Mark Hamill, it is ultimately not the actor who was chosen
© Zuma Press
6/12 –
Mel Gibson
“So he didn’t have any salient features, he didn’t have anything remarkable, he didn’t look like a leader or a hero. So he was the opposite of a star This is the type of actor I needed!”
© Action Press
7/12 –
Mel Gibson
Instead of Mel Gibson, it was Tom Hulce who slipped into the skin of Mozart
© Agency
8/12 –
Mel Gibson
At the time, a young actor still little known, he seduced the world of cinema and spectators with his embodied interpretation of the composer
© THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY
9/12 –
Amadeus
A role that earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in the Best Actor category in 1985
© THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY
10/12 –
Amadeus
To find his son’s entire cast, he did 1,400 auditions!
© THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY
11/12 –
Amadeus
It is thanks to this that he discovered F. Murray Abraham, to whom he gave the role of Salieri, the one that allowed him to win the Oscar for Best Actor, in 1995
© THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY
12/12 –
Amadeus
This genius biopic won eight Oscars the year it was released