Trivia / Braveheart

• Backed by the Pentagon: Most of the extras in the battle scenes were played by Irish army reservists.
• Blooper: In the last shot of the English cavalry charge during the Battle of Stirling right before Wallace shouts for his men to pick up their pikes, you can catch a glimpse of a modern sedan parked in the background of the shot at the left side of the screen (you can see it at 0:39 in this clip).
• California Doubling: For tax reasons, most of the movie was filmed in Ireland. Although it's doubtful that most American viewers noticed the difference, Ireland's rolling green hills and Scotland's rugged, mountainous landscape really don't resemble each other very much. And those parts of Scotland which they did use were on the wrong side of the country; they use the West Highlands, which historically played little part in Wallace's campaign.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Brian Cox was first offered a larger role but took the role of Argyle Wallace because he felt it was a better role.
• Channel Hop: Mel Gibson and his production company, Icon Productions, had difficulty raising enough money for the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Although Mel Gibson was nearly 40, his character was supposed to be in his twenties. Gibson also admitted he had always felt he was at least a decade too old to play Wallace.
  • Although playing father and son, James Cosmo and Brendan Gleeson are only seven years apart in age.
• Descended Creator: Mel Gibson only intended to direct and produce the film, as he felt he was too old to play William Wallace. He initially wanted Brad Pitt to star.
• Directed by Cast Member: Mel Gibson is both the lead actor and the director of this film.
• Dueling Movies: This was released a month apart from Rob Roy, another historical drama about a heroic Scottish rebel facing off against their villainous English oppressors. Interestingly enough it was revealed in an interview with Brian Cox, an actor who shows up in both films in question, that Gibson had actually been the initial choice for the lead role of the opposing film but turned it down.
• Dyeing for Your Art: The extras in the battle scenes were part of the Irish Army Reserve, and usually have to be clean-shaven, but were given special permission to grow beards for the film.
• Fake Nationality: Many, MANY examples:
  • Fake Scot: American/Australian Mel Gibson as William Wallace, Irishmen Brendan Gleeson and John Kavanagh as Hamish and Craig respectively, and English Catherine McCormack and Alun Armstrong as Murron and Mornay, respectively.
  • Fake Brit: Irishmen Patrick McGoohan as Edward the Longshanks and Peter Hanly as his son Prince Edward. It also counts as a case of Fake Nationality too, since the historical Edwards were descended from the French Plantagenet dynasty.
  • Fake Irish: Somewhat confusingly, the cast includes Irish actor Gleeson as Scottish character Hamish, while the Irish character Stephen is played by David O'Hara...who's Scottish.
• Falsely Advertised Accuracy: Despite the film's claims of historical accuracy, there are historical falsehoods from the opening narration to the final scene. It's filled with anachronisms, sentimental touches, simplistic historical reductionism and is essentially a mythical version of medieval Scotland with little relation to the events it claims to depict.
• Follow the Leader:
  • Was able to get made during a wave of adventure films set in the Middle Ages after the success of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, most often about gallant heroes fighting for freedom against tyrannical leaders. This film however amped things up from swashbuckler to full-blown epic, with more films following suit after this one's success.
  • The Patriot (2000) was certainly inspired by the film from having the same lead actor to heavy amounts of Artistic License – History, Historical Hero Upgrade and Historical Villain Upgrade for both sides of the story.
• Hostility on the Set: Many of the Irish extras (playing English and Scottish soldiers in the background) came from rival companies and they took the opportunity to really beat the tar out of each other during the battle scenes.
• Real-Life Relative: Mel Gibson's brother Donald plays the leader of one of the clans that joins up with William Wallace at the midpoint of the movie.
• Renamed to Avoid Association: Wallace's wife in The Wallace, which the film is based on, was named Marion Braidfute. Her name was changed to Murron MacClannough to avoid confusion with Maid Marian of Robin Hood fame.
• Typecasting: That same year, Mel Gibson also starred in Pocahontas, another highly fictionalised story about a historical figure, where his love interest in the film was a child in real life.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original script had the Irish fighting the Scottish, which is actually historically accurate.
  • The bridge for the Battle of Stirling was supposed to be featured, but it was scrapped because it was too difficult to work with. A Scottish extra quipped "Aye, that's what the English found."
  • In the original script, the Scots don't see the Irish coming.
  • Jeff Bridges, Christopher Lambert, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson and Robin Williams were considered for William Wallace. Mel Gibson wasn't even interested in playing the role, intending to direct at first, and considered Brad Pitt and Jason Patric for it.
  • Sean Connery turned down the role of Edward Longshanks due to scheduling conflicts with Just Cause.
  • Randall Wallace initially planned to start the story with William Wallace as an adult and added the prologue of his childhood only as an afterthought. As the sequence was first written, Murron gave William a rose (rather than a thistle) at his father's burial; however, someone who read the script helpfully pointed out that the rose, being a traditional symbol of England, would be (to say the least) somewhat inappropriate as a prominent feature in the story.
  • Mel Gibson offered Terry Gilliam the director's chair, but he declined. They were supposed to collaborate on an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.
  • Jodie Foster was considered for the roles of Princess Isabelle of France and William Wallace's wife Murron.
  • Gibson said that Wallace's speech would've been better if Wallace just hit an Englishman in the head. "I would've done it that way if I could do it over."
  • According to Mel Gibson, the original cut was over an hour longer and had all of its scenes filmed. He has mentioned he may release this cut at some point in the future.
  • Tommy Flanagan recalls being only cast for two weeks of work, and his character was just called 'The Bridegroom'. Mel Gibson however liked him and expanded his role to keep him around longer, including giving him a name (Morrison).

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