Mel Gibson made child star cry


We can now add “makes children cry” to the long list of character faults that dog Mel Gibson.

Gaby Hoffmann, the former child star of such classics as Uncle Buck, Field of Dreams and Sleepless in Seattle, told the Huffington Post that Gibson had yelled at her while they were making the 1993 film Man Without a Face.

She opened up about the awkward experience when asked about the difference between male and female directors.

Hoffmann, who is now 31, said: “I think I happened to work with a bunch of slightly difficult male directors when I was a kid.”

The actor was 11 when she starred in Gibson’s directorial debut, a Dead Poets society-type film in which Gibson played a disfigured and reclusive teacher.

Hoffmann said that Gibson’s temper made filming difficult.

“I think we can all agree that (working with Gibson) is going to be tough for anyone,” she said.

“He screamed at me. Oh God, he really screamed at me. He started cursing and screaming at me.

“I think I was acting like a kid instead of a professional actor. It happens once in a while when you’re a kid actor.”

Asked if he made her cry, she said: “Yeah. Oh yeah. I think otherwise he was fine.”

Hoffmann said that director John Hughes, who launched the career of Macaulay Culkin, was also a difficult man. She played Culkin’s sister in the 1989 comedy Uncle Buck.

“I don’t think John Hughes liked me. I don’t know why.”

Hoffmann said that the late Nora Ephron, who directed her in the 1993 rom-com Sleepless in Seattle, managed to restore her faith in acting.

She added that she had since worked with lots of male directors “that I love”.

“You’re either in it together or you’re not, and if you’re not it sucks.”

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