10 minutes with Mel Gibson: When going green comes naturally

NISHA SABANAGAM and FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN

NISHA SABANAGAM and FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN had lunch with Mel Gibson recently during his recent surprise visit to Malaysia. They managed to get the acclaimed Hollywood director to talk about his love for the environment and the rainforest.

Q: How did you become so environmentally conscious?
A: I grew up in a family that was environmentally conscious. My dad had an organic garden. He even had beehives. I have a cattle range, and I make sure we use no pesticides or unnatural products.

Q: Why the focus on the rainforest?
A: I was in awe. Just a few weeks ago I was in the Guatemalan rainforest looking at bugs, thinking ‘What on earth is that?’
I saw some critters I have never seen before. The entomologist I was with said, ‘I don’t know, why don’t we take a picture of it and give it a name?’There are 1.4 million species of insects in the rainforest that they have identified. There are eight-and-a-half million more that they don’t know what to call or what they are good for.It’s not out of the ordinary to have some guy with a machete and a sombrero come out and say ‘Here, eat some of this stuff, it’s really good for diabetes.’ It just goes to show there is amazing untapped potential in the rainforest.

Q: What about your family? Does your family try to live a green lifestyle?
A: I think they’re pretty cool about the stuff, having grown up with that kind of influence. I don’t preach about it. My father never preached to me about being organic. I just really liked what he practised. I thought he was cool. My kids are also pretty cool about it. Had an electric car for a while. Bicycles, walking, all these things are energy savers.Q: What do you think about Malaysia’s rainforest?A: Well, I haven’t really had a chance to see it properly. But I may be going to Danum Valley in Sabah soon. This is only my second visit to Malaysia. The last time I was here was 10 years ago to promote a movie.

Q: Do you have any movies in the pipeline at the moment?
A: There are a lot of different productions in the works, maybe three or four. It takes a long time to get scripts that are really worthwhile. I think, nowadays, a lot of people have forgotten how important it is to have a good story. Computer-generated images and technology seem to be getting bigger. We really need to get back to basics.

Q:Will your stories have environmental messages like Apocalypto which is set during the decline of the Mayan civilisation?
A:I found out that it doesn’t really pay to tell people what you are doing because every time I’ve done that, someone else always tries to do it first. I don’t know why they think I have such great ideas.

Q: It was rumoured that your recent visit to Costa Rica was to scout for locations for your upcoming epic about the 16th Century Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez De Balboa. Is this true?
A: Don’t believe everything you read.