Film actor and director Mel Gibson says now is the perfect time for him to begin production on the highly anticipated sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” after a 20-year hiatus.
The Academy Award-winning filmmaker talked faith and a little politics while appearing on the debut episode of the “Arroyo Grande with Raymond Arroyo” podcast.
During the interview, Gibson shared he just lost his home during the massive and deadly fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area on Jan. 7.
However, he said it has been a “blessing” in disguise.
BREAKING: Mel Gibson on the loss of his home as a preparation for The Resurrection of the Christ: “I feel like I’m being stripped down… I feel like the Almighty is preparing me to do something big.” @ArroyoGrandeSho Full podcast below. 👇SUBSCRIBE Now. pic.twitter.com/3TkaevEXEw
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) January 15, 2025
“It was an odd mixture of sadness and a kind of a weird realization and blessing because they are just things,” he told Arroyo. “Yeah, I’m going to miss some stuff. There was some valuable stuff, some personal stuff, but I feel like I’m being stripped down and prepared for something else. I feel like the Almighty is preparing me to do something big.”
Like many A-list celebrities who have lost their homes, the “Flight Risk” director expressed that Los Angeles officials mishandled the crisis, calling it a “monumental mismanagement.”
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“You got nothing but rampant crime, acute homelessness, high taxes, mismanagement of water, firefighters, defunding the department, and we’re supposed to trust them with millions of dollars to sort of remake where we live? It’s our city, it’s the city of the people, and they have another plan,” he expressed. “(Gavin Newsom) is saying build back better. Have you ever seen government build back better?”
“The last thing we need is a bunch of bureaucrats telling us how to build our communities,” Gibson added.
The 69-year-old says despite the mismanagement and the disaster, it is important to look at the upside and trust God.
“You seek first the kingdom of God and you will always be ok,” he said. “You’ll get what you need. Look at the flowers of the field, look at the birds of the air. They get fed, they get clothed. That’s Matthew I think.”
Gibson’s outlook said the loss of his home in the fires has been a “purification.”
“Honestly, I see it as a blessing and a purification. Yeah, you lose. Yeah, it’s going to be murder getting the insurance. It’s going to be a real cluster-buster. [But] I got a lot of faith… [and] not in our elected officials,” he pointed out.
Gibson says now is the perfect time to begin preparing for a new role in “The Resurrection of the Christ” – the sequel to the 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ” featuring Jim Caviezel as Jesus.
“Society is devolving…We need a reminder of the most basic things that form our civilization…Civilization (is) being threatened,” he said.
Gibson added, “I believe it’s not in my timing. Man, I thought, it’s too late. It’s been 20 years. I thought 20 years may have been too late, but now it’s perfect. And I have had all this taken and now it sort of frees me up to not worry about that stuff and just move ahead and do what I am being called to do. And I am being called to do it.”
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