Mel Gibson Speaks for the First Time: “To this day, no one can explain it.”

What this episode is about

In this episode, the narrator explores the making of Mel Gibson's *The Passion of the Christ*, tracing how Gibson's personal struggles and sudden return to faith led him to pursue a brutally honest telling of Jesus's final hours. The discussion covers his self-funded $45 million gamble after Hollywood studios rejected the project, his insistence on Aramaic and Latin dialogue, and his unconventional casting choices. Framed with dramatic claims of supernatural events on set, the episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at a film that defied industry norms and became a cultural phenomenon.

Key takeaways

• Mel Gibson funded The Passion of the Christ himself with $30 million plus $15 million in marketing after Hollywood studios rejected it.
• Gibson's faith revival came during personal darkness, driving him to tell Jesus's final hours with raw, unsanitized realism.
• Gibson refused studio compromises, insisting on Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew dialogue with no English to soften the film's impact.
• Casting unknown actors like Jim Caviezel was a deliberate choice so audiences would see Christ, not famous faces.
• Gibson's gamble that a film Hollywood called unmarketable would become a cultural phenomenon proved spectacularly right.

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Jesus Christ, Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Jesus Christ, The Passion of the Christ
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Jesus Christ, Matera, Italy, Mel Gibson
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Jesus Christ, The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson, Abraham Foxman
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Jesus Christ, Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Jesus Christ, Mel Gibson
7. 30:00 – 33:04: Jesus Christ, The Passion of the Christ, Christianity, Mel Gibson

Notable quotes from "Mel Gibson Speaks for the First Time: “To this day, no one can explain it.”"

• The most powerful Christian films ever made was never just a film? The Passion of Christ broke limits no Christian film ever had. But what many people don't know is that behind the scenes, this film was far from normal.

  about Jesus Christ · at 0:06

• Before a single frame was filmed before the bloodied robes and before the passion of the Christ became a cultural phenomenon, there was one man, Mel Gibson. Not the Mel that's commonly described as a global superstar or an.

  about The Passion of the Christ · at 0:57

• He was praying, while others said he was crying. The location of the shoot, Matera, Italy, isn't known for dramatic weather, but during filming, it became strangely…

  about Matera, Italy · at 12:25

• Sparking outrage. Several Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, accused the film of promoting anti-Semitic themes, specifically the age-old accusation that the Jews were solely responsible for Jesus's death.

  about Anti-Defamation League · at 19:31

• Former self-proclaimed atheist who played the role of Judas, he suddenly decided to convert to Christianity after the experience he had on set. However, what's even more…

  about Christianity · at 30:12

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Jesus Christ — Person · 23 mentions · first at 0:12
• Mel Gibson — Person · 11 mentions · first at 0:39
  Coincidences, and unnatural events that still haunt the people who worked on that set to this very day. Why did Mel Gibson insist on making a movie every studio in Hollywood refused to touch?
• Abraham Foxman — Person · 1 mention · first at 19:50
  Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said bluntly, Our concern is that the passion of the Christ could fuel the latent anti-semitism that exists in the hearts of those people who.
• Anne Catherine Emmerich — Person · 1 mention
• David Ansen — Person · 1 mention
• Jim Caviezel — Person · 1 mention
• Luca Lionello — Person · 1 mention
• Roger Ebert — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

• The Passion of the Christ — Book · 13 mentions · first at 0:59

Companies & orgs

• Anti-Defamation League — Company · 1 mention · first at 19:35
• Icon Productions — Company · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• Christianity — Concept · 1 mention · first at 30:16

Places & events

• Matera, Italy — Place · 1 mention · first at 12:31
• Golgotha — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 that he was about 6 feet tall, that he was completely scourged all over his body, he was crucified. What if one of the most powerful Christian films ever made was never just a film? The Passion of Christ broke limits no Christian film ever had. But what many people don't know is that behind the scenes, this film was far from normal. Something very disturbing happened on that set. Something none of us were ever supposed to know. There were whispers of a strange presence, haunting coincidences, and unnatural events that still haunt the people who worked on that set to this very day. Why did Mel Gibson insist on making a movie every studio in Hollywood refused to touch?

0:49 Keep watching because this is what happens when one man decides to cross boundaries, men were never meant to. Before a single frame was filmed before the bloodied robes and before the passion of the Christ became a cultural phenomenon, there was one man, Mel Gibson. Not the Mel that's commonly described as a global superstar or an Oscar-winning director, but a man on a mission that almost no one understood and even fewer believed in. What many people fail to understand is the fact that this wasn't a film he planned. It was a film he just had to make. But even Mel could have never imagined what he was getting himself into. He didn't know that what would happen before, during, and after this film would lead to the most transformative experiences of his life, and in ways he never expected.

1:45 Mel's obsession with The Passion. It all began in the late 1990s when Gibson was in a place most Hollywood stars would call successful. He had international fame, box office hits, and the rare privilege of calling his own shots in Hollywood. But behind the scenes, something very disturbing had begun happening to this man. He was battling some serious demons. There was addiction, depression, and a growing sense that something was missing in his life. He was on the edge, and things got so bad that he began to have inappropriate thoughts. But somewhere in that darkness, something strange happened. Mel suddenly reconnected with his faith. And it didn't happen in a soft and symbolic way. It happened deeply and almost obsessively. According to Mel, in the midst of his pain one day, he just hit his knees on the ground and began asking God for help. From there, he began meditating on the gospel, especially

2:53 parts that had to do with asking God for help, parts he had read when he was much younger. And that's where the idea behind the passion of Christ was born. Mel once said, "I was a bad guy, a really horrible guy. My sins were the first to nail him to the cross. So, I wanted to tell his story." Mel became fixated on telling the story of Jesus Christ's final hours, not as a parable or as some sanitized Hollywood epic for purely entertainment purposes, but as it really happened in all its raw and brutal detail. And so he began pouring himself into research. He went over scripture, studied the stations of the cross, dug into historical texts, and even consulted mystic writings like the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerick. He wasn't interested in opinion. He wanted accuracy realism and authenticity. He decided that if Jesus was going to speak, he'd speak in Aramaic. If Romans were present, they'd

4:06 speak Latin. There would be no English, no modernisms, absolutely nothing to soften the blow of the film. And that's exactly where the problems began. Because when Mel took the idea to multiple Hollywood studios, it immediately got shut down. Executives listened politely to his pitch about the brutal death of Jesus spoken entirely in ancient dead languages with subtitles and absolutely no commercial hook. And they immediately told him that no one would watch it. They refused to sponsor it or give it a dime. But Mel wasn't discouraged. He figured out that Hollywood wouldn't touch it if he didn't rework the script.

4:52 But he also realized that if he compromised on the little details they wanted him to change, the entire essence of the film would be lost. And so he did the unthinkable. Mel made the brave decision to fund the entire project himself. A whopping $30 million of his own money for the production and another $15 million for marketing. There were no outside investors, no studio backing, and definitely no safety nets. The stakes were extremely high. If this film failed, it wouldn't just be a flop. It would be a full-blown collapse. But Mel didn't care because at this point, this film wasn't just a business deal anymore. It was a calling. And he was about to break every rule in the book.

5:47 But his next decision raised even more eyebrows. Mel decided that he didn't want the usual Hollywood stars in the movie. No famous names, no distracting faces, and definitely no A-list actors who'd pull focus from the story. He believed that the film had to feel ancient timeless and anonymous. So audiences wouldn't see the actors, they'd simply see Christ. And that's how Mel decided on the man whose life completely changed with this film, Jim Cavisel. Jim was a serious, devout Catholic actor who at the time was best known for supporting roles. He had the intensity Mel was looking for and the humility to take on the most demanding role imaginable. When Mel offered him the part, Jim didn't hesitate. He was ready for whatever would come his way.

6:44 In fact, after offering him the role, Mel reportedly called him back and asked him not to take the role, saying, "You'll never work in this town again." But Jim responded by saying, "We all have to embrace our crosses." Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been. Not much has changed in 2,000 years. From there, the cast took shape. And then Mel announced his extremely brave decision to have the entire film shot in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew with no modern translations on screen during filming. The idea was to immerse the audience and to remove any modern filter from the experience. Of course, subtitles would be added later, but Mel's hope was that even without understanding the words, viewers would understand the emotion, the betrayal, the agony, and the sacrifice. And so, language became part of the texture of the film, and the sound of it carried even more weight. The harshness of Roman

7:56 Latin and the mournful cadence of Aramaic made the world of the film feel completely removed from anything modern, yet emotionally immediate. But that's not the only bold decision Mel made. Hollywood could have built a digital Jerusalem on a green screen, but he said no. Instead, he wanted real terrain, rugged mountains, cracked earth, and weather that would be real. And so, the filming was done in Matara, Italy, a historic town carved into rock. Its ancient stone dwellings gave the perfect biblical look. It was eerie, raw, and untouched by modern life. But the conditions there were brutal because the cast and crew members had to endure freezing temperatures, dangerous winds, and unpredictable storms. They built an entire crucifixion site on a hill outside the town. It was a full-scale recreation of Golgatha with wooden crosses, dirt paths, ancient tools, and nothing fake or plastic. As

9:07 pre-production turned into preparation for filming, several people, from the actors to the crew, began to feel that this project was different. Jim himself would later admit that they all knew something else was going on. Something very strange, out of the ordinary, was happening. Stories began to circulate about quiet moments of reverence on set, about people breaking into tears during rehearsals, about a kind of spiritual force. And as cameras finally began to roll, it became clear that they were not alone on that set. Strange happenings on the set.

9:50 The cameras had barely begun to roll on The Passion of the Christ when the atmosphere shifted. This wasn't like any other movie set. What was supposed to be a rigorous spiritual production started turning into something else. Something that to this day many of the people involved still can't fully explain. And it all began with lightning. You see, when he took on the role, Jim Cabisel had automatically committed to a punishing physical performance. We're talking about full body makeup, hours on the cross, lashes, bruises, dirt, and blood. But what he and and others on that set didn't expect was the sky turning against him. That's right.

10:41 During one of the scenes on the hill of Golgatha, while standing on the cross, Jim was struck by a bolt of lightning. The crew froze. No one could believe it. The jolt threw him off balance and he bit through his tongue and cheeks. According to the actor, the lightning strike eventually led to two heart surgeries, including an open heart surgery along with lots of medication. Thankfully, the issue was eventually corrected years later. But what's even stranger is the fact that a few minutes after Jim was struck, lightning struck again. This time it hit the assistant director, John Mckelini, who had also been struck previously on the set, and he survived once again. Twice on the same set, same shoot, same location.

11:35 How many times does lightning strike twice in the same place? Scientists call it rare, but those on the set started calling it something else entirely. Some said it was a sign, others said it was a warning. But that wasn't the only unnatural thing that happened on set. Reports have it that members of the crew started speaking in hushed tones about a strange presence on set. Not something visible, but something they could feel. Some others described feeling dizzy, nauseated, or suddenly emotional during filming, but only during certain moments, like the whipping, the carrying of the cross, and the death scene. Even Mel Gibson, who is known for being composed and focused, was seen walking off set during these moments. Some said he was praying, while others said he was crying. The location of the shoot, Matera, Italy, isn't known for dramatic weather, but during filming, it became strangely

12:38 unpredictable. Sunny mornings would turn into blackened skies by midday, only to return to clear, windless afternoons within minutes. A scene would begin under calm skies, and halfway through, powerful gusts would slam through the set, knocking over equipment. Sandstorms would appear from nowhere and tents would be ripped from the ground. Sometimes, just as quickly as it started, there would be silence. At some point, it began to feel less like weather challenges and more like a warning. But let's talk about Jim Cavisel, the actor who took on the role of Jesus Christ. Some say he wasn't just acting the role of Christ, he was literally enduring it. Do you know that during the scourging scene, the whips were carefully designed to miss his skin? However, during one take, the angle shifted slightly and one of the barbs caught his back. The strike tore into his flesh and it left a 14-in scar.

13:43 But that's not all. Later, while carrying the massive cross, Jim slipped and dislocated his shoulder. In fact, reports revealed that some screams you hear in the final cut of the film were not acting. They were real. Makeup artists would later reveal that some of the bruises appearing on his body were not makeup. They were real. And they could barely differentiate between them. Jim also contracted hypothermia during the crucifixion scenes, which were shot in cold, stormy weather. And that's not all. He had to deal with extreme stress, physical strain, and extreme exposure during filming. His body had been pushed to the edge, just like the character he was playing. And here's the eerie part.

14:35 Do you realize that Jim Cavezel's initials are JC? Same as Jesus Christ's. Also, he was 30 years old during the filming, the same age Christ was at his crucifixion. Was this a coincidence, or was it something more? But Jim wasn't the only one affected on that set. Several other cast members reportedly fell ill during or after key scenes. There were sudden fevers, sleepless nights, and nightmares. But through it all, Mel Gibson never made public statements about the supernatural events on set. But those closest to him noticed a change. He became more withdrawn and more serious. He reportedly started each day with prayer and was known to pace in the early mornings reading the Bible under his breath. At some point, it felt like the film had become a battlefield. Not between actors and critics, but between forces far older than that, forces of good and evil. Mel believed that the Passion of the Christ

15:48 was not just a movie, but a spiritual weapon. Mel believes that what happened on that set wasn't just filmmaking. It was intense and it was unexplainable. When The Passion of the Christ finally hit theaters on February 25th, 2004, it didn't just open like a regular movie. It detonated like a bomb. Hollywood had turned its back on Mel. Critics were sharpening their knives before the film even premiered, and some religious leaders were either preparing to defend the film or condemn it in the harshest terms imaginable. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared the world for what happened next. The controversies that followed. The release of The Passion of Christ wasn't your typical red carpet premiere with flashing lights and celebrity interviews. There was no massive press tour, no late night talk show interviews and advertisements.

16:53 Mel took a different route with the promotion of this film and he bypassed the mainstream marketing machine altogether. Instead, he turned to the churches to help with the marketing. Evangelical leaders, Catholic priests, and Christian influencers were sent early cuts of the film. Private screenings were held not in Beverly Hills, but in church basement and conference halls across the United States. And as pastors began endorsing the film from the pulpit, hyping it up and describing it as the most powerful depiction of Jesus ever put on screen, something wild began to happen. The faith community mobilized and took the film to the next level. Church groups began booking entire theaters to watch the film, and some even arranged buses to transport their members. In fact, sermons were built around the release date. For many Christians, seeing the Passion of the Christ was not just a cinematic experience. It was a spiritual

17:58 event. And just like that, Mel Gibson's controversial project exploded into one of the biggest cultural events in movie history. Analysts were stunned. The film opened on Ash Wednesday and on that very first day it pulled in $23.5 million. By the end of its opening weekend, it had rad in about $83.8 million, beating all expectations and becoming the biggest February debut of all time at that point. And it didn't stop there. Despite being an R-rated, subtitled, extremely violent religious film with zero Hollywood stars, The Passion of the Christ kept drawing in crowds. By the time it left theaters, the film had grossed around $370 million in the United States alone and over $611 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie in history at the time. This wasn't just a success, it was a phenomenon. A $30 million film funded independently by Mel Gibson himself had beaten the odds and defied Hollywood's

19:15 rules, and the entertainment industry was left completely speechless. But with all that success came a tidal wave of criticism. Before it even premiered, The Passion of the Christ had already begun sparking outrage. Several Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, accused the film of promoting anti-Semitic themes, specifically the age-old accusation that the Jews were solely responsible for Jesus's death. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said bluntly, "Our concern is that the passion of the Christ could fuel the latent anti-semitism that exists in the hearts of those people who hold Jews responsible for the death of Jesus, which always has been the source of Western anti-semitism." However, Mel Gibson insisted that the film simply portrayed the events as they happened according to scripture. But many scholars and activists weren't buying it. And so heated debates broke out on talk shows,

20:25 tabloid pages, and even in religious circles. And yet, people still arrived in their numbers to see the movie. Another major point of contention was that the film was too brutal and was filled with graphic violence. Critics accused Gibson of enjoying the violence. The scourging scene alone lasting nearly 10 excruciating minutes was described as too graphic by some reviewers. Audiences reportedly fainted, vomited, vomited, or left the theater in tears. Roger Eerta, one of the few critics who tried to praise the film despite its intensity, wrote, "The movie is 126 minutes long."

21:11 And I would guess that at least 100 of those minutes, maybe more, are concerned specifically and graphically with the details of the torture and death of Jesus. This is the most violent film I have ever seen. David Anson, another critic, wrote, "Instead of being moved by Christ's suffering or aed by his sacrifice, I felt abused by a filmmaker intent on punishing an audience for who knows what sins." But in the midst of all this fire, Mel Gibson stayed largely silent and decided to let the film speak for itself. Internationally, The Passion of the Christ stirred just as much passion and controversy.

21:56 In Mexico, the film was embraced with fervent devotion. In Italy and Poland, Catholic audiences filled theaters night after night. In Brazil, the film played in slums and cathedrals alike. But in France and Germany, where historical sensitivities around anti-semitism are especially sharp, the film faced strong push back and several theaters declined to show it altogether. In Christian circles, many hailed the film as a divine work of art. Viewers reported feeling spiritually transformed. Some even claimed physical healing or emotional breakthroughs after watching it. Churches used the film to rekindle conversations about the sacrifice of Christ. Evangelists handed out recordings as tools of conversion. For many believers, this film became the most powerful evangelistic tool since the Bible itself. But outside the church critics scholars and filmmakers continued to accuse Mel of inflaming religious tensions, glorifying

23:03 violence, and pushing a fundamentalist worldview. And this backlash was eventually targeted at Mel's personal life. Reporters began digging into his family history. His father's controversial statements about the Holocaust were dragged into the spotlight, and his own interviews, which were often cryptic and defensive, fueled more fire. Suddenly, the Passion of the Christ wasn't just a movie. It had become a cultural fault line. When the dust eventually settled, one thing was clear. The Passion of the Christ had changed the movie business.

23:42 It had proved that there was a massive, largely untapped Christian audience that Hollywood had ignored for decades. Studios began rushing to greenlight faith-based projects. Films like God's Not Dead, Heaven is for Real, and War Room emerged in its wake. But the passion remained the gold standard, and the one movie they all tried to imitate, but could never match. After the praise and criticism battled it out across headlines and airwaves, the lights eventually faded. The cameras stopped rolling and the world had seen the final cut. But for the people who lived through and were actively involved in the production of The Passion of the Christ, the story didn't end when the credits rolled. If anything, it had only just begun. What happened to the actors, the crew, and even Mel Gibson himself in the months and years after the film's release was almost as dramatic and mysterious as the film itself. Some

24:47 found God. Some vanished from the spotlight. Others seemed to carry invisible scars they have never spoken about. and a haunting pattern began to emerge, one that those closest to the project either couldn't or wouldn't talk about life after the experience. Let's start with the main character of the film, Jim Cavisel. You see, before the film, Jim was a rising talent. He starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in Angel Eyes and earned critical praise for The Thin Red Line. He has also held his own next to Dennis Quaid in frequency and Hollywood had him pegged as a reliable, bankable, cleancut lead. But then he took on the role of Jesus and his life changed forever.

25:41 After the film's massive success, you'd expect Jim's phone to be ringing off the hook. But it didn't. Rolls didn't pour in. Instead, the opposite happened. His career chilled almost overnight. It turns out that some people in Hollywood reportedly labeled him as too religious, while others claimed he was too difficult. In fact, for years, sources close to the industry have whispered that perhaps Jim was quietly blacklisted. Playing Jesus and aligning so publicly with Mel Gibson had made him radioactive in certain circles. In an interview, Jim opened up saying, "All of a sudden, I stopped being one of the five most popular actors in the studio, and I hadn't done anything wrong. I just played Jesus." But here's the kicker.

26:33 Jim insists that he has no regrets. In fact, he has admitted that if he had to do it all over again, he would. Because this film was more than just a role. It was a calling. Jim has since leaned hard into his faith, taking on Christian themed roles and speaking at religious conferences. He's often emotional when talking about the experience and never shies away from describing it as spiritually transformative. He also began speaking boldly about his faith, especially after all the accusations and backlash he received after the film. In an interview, he once said, "I had no choice but to defend my faith at that point. I was called anti-semitic and everything. For Mel, the release of The Passion should have been his crowning moment. He had finally proven everyone wrong. Hollywood laughed him off, and he made a global blockbuster using ancient languages and zero stars. But while the movie soared, his personal life spiraled

27:43 out of control. In the years after the film's release, his public image literally collapsed. There was the 2006 driving under the influence arrest where he launched into an infamous drunken rant laced with anti-semitic slurs. It was a moment that shattered his career and made him a pariah. But that wasn't all. More scandals followed after that. There were tabloid meltdowns, leaked phone calls, and accusations of inappropriate behavior. Many saw it as a complete fall from grace. But others, especially those who worked with him on The Passion, believe that there's more to the story.

28:24 They say the film changed him. That in his obsessive pursuit to tell the story of Christ's suffering, something shifted inside him. and Mel himself has admitted he was never the same after making the movie. He's also hinted in cryptic ways that the backlash against him, both personally and professionally, wasn't entirely natural. He believes it's some sort of consequence for the extraordinary and life-changing movie he made. However, despite everything, Mel has remained unshaken in his belief that the passion was a divine assignment. He continues to describe it as the work of his life. And in recent years, he's been quietly working on a sequel, although details have been kept tightly under wraps. But what's truly strange is that despite the success and the attention, he rarely speaks about the film anymore.

29:23 And those close to him say certain chapters of that journey remain completely off limits. But it wasn't just Mel and Jim that had strange experiences. Behind the cameras, something was happening to the crew. According to reports from those on set, several crew members had a change of heart, and some reportedly began studying the Bible during breaks. Extras technicians caterers and people whose names never made it to the screen quietly shared stories of dreams, visions, or po inexplicable emotions during production. Several crew members reportedly confessed their sins and asked for baptisms while filming was still ongoing. Perhaps one of the most profound ones was when Luca Lionelo, a former self-proclaimed atheist who played the role of Judas, he suddenly decided to convert to Christianity after the experience he had on set. However, what's even more disturbing is how many people who were involved in the making

30:26 of The Passion of the Christ still refused to speak about it even two decades later. Some actors who had only minor roles, like Roman soldiers or towns people, have repeatedly declined interview requests, and some crew members have reportedly said they're not comfortable revisiting the experience they had. Some reports even noted that journalists who covered the production encountered a strange wall of silence when they tried to reach out to insiders. There's no scandal being covered up, no crime, just silence. However, the few who do speak often describe the filming as spiritually intense, overwhelming, or unlike anything they'd ever experienced before.

31:12 But for those who won't open up, some speculate that the emotional weight of the story and the way it was filmed created a kind of sacred space that people are hesitant to disturb. Others suggest that the crew may have witnessed things that can't be explained and they simply don't know how to talk about them. And then there are those who whisper that what happened on that set went beyond art, beyond storytelling, that it crossed into the supernatural, and everyone who was there knows it. The Passion of the Christ wasn't just a movie. For many involved, it became a spiritual marker. a before and after in their lives. Jim Cavisel paid the price with his career. Mel Gibson paid for it with his reputation. Countless others walked away from the experience changed, humbled, or haunted. And yet, none of them really regret it. They saw something. They felt something. And they know that what happened behind the scenes can't be

32:20 captured in a documentary or recounted in a podcast interview. It was personal. It was sacred. And in some strange way, it may still be unfolding. And maybe that's why the silence continues. Because the passion of the Christ wasn't just a story about Jesus. For those who made it, it became their own cross to carry. But what do you think? Was the Passion of the Christ just a film or something more? Tell us in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this video, click on the next video on your screen. Like this video and subscribe to our channel for more updates.

Questions about this episode

What is "Mel Gibson Speaks for the First Time: “To this day, no one can explain it.”" about?

In this episode, the narrator explores the making of Mel Gibson's *The Passion of the Christ*, tracing how Gibson's personal struggles and sudden return to faith led him to pursue a brutally honest telling of Jesus's final hours. The discussion covers his self-funded $45 million gamble after Hollywood studios rejected the project, his insistence on Aramaic and Latin dialogue, and his…

What is mentioned in this The Spotlight List episode?

14 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Jesus Christ, The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson, Matera, Italy, Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Mel Gibson Speaks for the First Time: “To this day, no one can explain it.”"?

The episode runs 33 min; the transcript is about 4,489 words in 34 timestamped sections.

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