The Cannes International Film Festival rages on with the The Beaver photocall, for which director and actress Jodie Foster was front and present but her co-star, Mel Gibson, was quite notably absent in spite of the fact that he was reportedly expected to attend. Surely, Jodie is fine with the fact that Mel was not present at the photocall because, no matter what, she’ll always love that man for the rest of her life even though he’s left her to deal with this mess all by herself.

Obviously, I have to wonder whether the woman even has a grasp on reality any longer. Not only does Jodie have poor taste in male associates, but she dared to describe the lower percentage of female directors as “race psychology,” yet she herself (despite being a woman) convinced a studio to give her $20 million of funding to make a movie about a guy who talks through a puppet. Indeed, the film has already received a U.S. limited release, for which it only brought in a measly $104,000 from 22 theaters. So it seems that Mel’s recent extensive, self-piting interview didn’t help sell tickets, and he’s sitting this one out like a pouting child:

Mel Gibson’s absence from the press conference supporting his new film did not stop him dominating proceedings.

The actor plays a depressed businessman who uses a beaver hand puppet to communicate in The Beaver, which is directed by his co-star Jodie Foster who attended the press conference in Cannes.

The actress, who has been friends with Gibson since they starred in the 1994 western Maverick, faced a barrage of questions about the actor who has been accused of racism, homophobia and anti-semitism and appeared in court this year on a battery charge after a complaint from ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

But she insisted the troubled star, who is due in Cannes today to appear at tonight’s screening of the film, “was the right actor for the role” and had “a deep understanding of the struggles” faced by the character.

She said: “He really understood the character in a way that was extraordinary. I think that he was willing to go to such a deep place and willing to expose himself in some ways, to really talk about something he knows a lot about which is struggle, wanting to change, wanting to transform yourself, not wanting to be who you are and I’m so grateful for that performance”.

Asked if the film would help rehabilitate him in the eyes of the public and in Hollywood, she said: “I don’t know, I have no idea.”

Foster added: “Anything that you do that you obsess about and think about and give that much to for six months of your life in his case… allows you to look deeper at yourself and the people around you and the effect of what you do and has to have some kind of therapeutic, cathartic end.

“I know that he is incredibly proud of the movie and I think that he is proud of what he’s shown and I think he wants people to see that side of him and he’s an incredibly private man so what he shows on screen is deep as you could possibly get”.

[From The Independent]

Perhaps Jodie and Mel talked this over beforehand and decided it would be best for him not to attend and distract from the topic at hand. However, it’s pretty clear that Mel distracts from The Beaver whether or not he’s actually present; so if he is truly so “incredibly proud” of this movie, the very least he could have done is to establish a presence and show some support for his unyieldingly loyal friend, co-star, and director. What a douche move, but there’s a slim chance that he might actually show up for the premiere itself. Admittedly, Jodie wasn’t completely alone for the photocall and press conferences because Kyle Killen and Keith Redmon bothered to show up. Her co-star, however, is another matter altogether.

Photos courtest of WENN