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Gaby Hoffmann: Mel Gibson “Screamed at Me,” Made Me Cry as a Kid

Gaby Hoffmann: Mel Gibson "Screamed at Me," Made Me Cry as a Kid
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Mel Gibson‘s ire makes no exceptions for gender or age. Former child star Gaby Hoffmann was just 11 years old when she starred in Gibson’s directorial debut, the 1993 drama The Man Without a Face. And her memories of working with the controversial filmmaker aren’t exactly happy ones.

“I think I happened to work with sort of a bunch of slightly difficult male directors when I was a kid,” she told HuffPost Live. “I’ve since worked with lots of male directors that I love, so I no longer see the distinction gender-wise.”

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That said, the experience with Gibson left its mark. “You’re either in it together, or you’re not. And if you’re not, it sucks,” she explained of the relationship between a director and his actors. “I don’t think John Hughes liked me. And the other one…was Mel Gibson, and I think we can all agree that’s going to be tough for anybody.”

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“He screamed at me. Oh, God, he really screamed at me,” she recalled of the star, whose volcanic temper has gotten him into trouble with the law on more than one occasion. “He just started cursing and screaming at me.”

Asked whether he made her cry, Hoffmann — now 31 and starring next in the upcoming films Crystal Fairy with Michael Cera and Goodbye World with Adrian Grenier — said, “Yeah. Oh, yeah.”

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“I think I was acting like a kid instead of a professional actor,” she quipped of what she did to set him off. “It happens once in a while when you’re a kid actor.”

Hoffmann hasn’t seen the director since then, but should they run into each other now, she has her opening line ready. “I’d say, ‘I hope you’re feeling better, Mel,'” she told HuffPost Live.

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