Braveheart and the Director Who Could Not Let Go

Development by Rejection

Gibson liked the script but initially passed on it, and the project kept nagging at him until he decided to take it on. The idea had already lost one director, with Terry Gilliam turning down the opportunity to helm it. Money was just as hard to find, as Warner Bros offered funding only if Gibson agreed to make another Lethal Weapon sequel, a deal he refused.

Casting Himself

He wanted to direct without acting, and at one point considered Brad Pitt for William Wallace before reluctantly agreeing to play the part himself. The king was another story. Sean Connery was asked to play King Edward but declined due to prior commitments, and Gibson later used Connery's pronunciation of 'goulash' as a reference for his own Scottish accent.

Scott Neeson on the set of Braveheart, 1995 — Scott Neeson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

An Irish Scotland

The Irish government convinced Gibson to relocate most of the shoot from the UK to Ireland and provided 1,600 members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. To save money, Gibson reused those same reservists for both opposing armies, having them grow beards and change out of their uniforms for medieval costumes.

Editing for Access

Battle scale came with a rating problem. Gibson toned down the battle scenes to secure an R rating instead of an NC-17, which had been deemed appropriate for brutal medieval warfare. Length was also a fight, as the original cut ran 195 minutes but Paramount head Sherry Lansing requested it be trimmed to 177 minutes.

The Score

James Horner composed the score with the London Symphony Orchestra, marking his second collaboration with Gibson as director. The music helped steady a production shaped as much by compromise and persistence as by pageantry.