ABC/Fred Lee
(NEW YORK) — Mel Gibson’s acclaimed new movie Hacksaw Ridge tells the remarkable story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to win a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Doss’ Seventh Day Adventist beliefs prohibited him from carrying a weapon into battle during World War II, but he served anyway — and single-handedly saved 75 American G.I.s in the bloody Battle of Okinawa.
In an interview with Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan Tuesday, Gibson praised his subject for being the “pinnacle of heroism,” and hailed his Hacksaw stars Andrew Garfield and Vince Vaughn for bringing the true story to life.
“These guy are professionals, they’re so good at what they do. This is not Wedding Crasher Vince,” Gibson said of the usually comic actor. “Vince is intrinsically funny, but he’s fantastic [in this]. Andrew just inhabited the character.”
Gibson also mentioned his 26-year-old son Milo, who he directed in the film. Did he listen to his director dad? “No, he never has,” he deadpanned. “Why should he start now?”
“With kids, I find if you keep talk at them…you find out that they heard everything later.”
Speaking of kids, “Number 9” is on the way, Gibson said to applause, joking, “I got the stretch marks, man.”
“It’s a love story,” Gibson said, circling back to Hacksaw, “Not really a war film. It is graphic, but I feel I needed to show that to show everybody what our veterans go through. Because a lot of people can’t understand what these guys are suffering from.”
There’s a lot of PTSD,” he adds. “There’s a lot of guys dropping the hammer on themselves and it’s a serious problem we need to pay more attention to, and I hope the film can focus on that.”
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