Mel Gibson was supposed to get his big comeback as a tattoo artist in a cameo in The Hangover 2. But then, supposedly the cast and crew objected and Gibson got fired yesterday. A day later, Gibson’s replacement has already been named: The Hangover 2 producers flew in Bradley Cooper’s A-Team co-star Liam Neeson to take Gibson’s place.
“I just got the call to do a one-day shoot on Hangover 2 as a tattooist in Thailand, and that’s all I know about it,” Neeson told Variety. “I just laughed my leg off when I saw The Hangover. I was shooting in Berlin earlier this year and rented it on the hotel TV.”
Hangover Director Todd Phillips released a statement on Thursday after Gibson was cut: “I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew,” he said.