ACTOR Mel Gibson has told Scotland on Sunday that William Wallace was a "monster" and admitted he romanticised the iconic 13th century freedom fighter in his film Braveheart.
In an interview to mark the 15th anniversary of the film's release, the Hollywood star said his version of the patriot was less thuggish than the real Wallace, who led Scotland's fight against the English.
"Wallace wasn't as nice as the characte
r we saw up there (on the screen], we romanticised him a bit," Gibson, 53, said.
"He was a monster. He always smelled of smoke; he was always burning people's villages down. He was like what the Vikings called 'a berserker'. We shifted the balance because someone's got to be the good guy against the bad guy; that's the way stories are told."
His remarks have fuelled the controversy that have surrounded the film, which was adopted by many Scottish Nationalists as a rallying call for independence.
The film won a string of Oscars, including Best Film and Best Director, but historians and critics have long criticised it for its inaccuracies.
However, Gibson's revised analysis of the historical figure on whom he based his character was also disputed by historians yesterday.
"It's fascinating," said Fiona Watson, a Wallace biographer. "After 15 years, he's giving us the other version of the myth, the knuckles dragging across the floor one, which is equally untrue. The real man surely lies in between. After all, Wallace went to the continent on diplomatic missions after the debacle at Falkirk, and I don't know (of] many berserkers who did that."
Watson added: "And if we're looking for uncivilised behaviour in that period then Wallace is not the only one indulging in it – EdwardI was surely at least as bad if not worse."
