Gibson’s The Word

Hollywood heartthrob, Mel Gibson is angling to clinch the part of Dr James Murray - the first ever editor of the Oxford English dictionary - in a movie adaptation of Simon Winchester's book, The Surgeon of Crowthorne. The Braveheart star is reportedly desperate to land the part of the beardy Victorian editor who was famous for his temperamental and overpowering nature. The deputy chief editor of the English Oxford dictionary, Edward Vinor, reckons Gibson will have a job on his hands to portray the part properly though and has reportedly urged Gibson to try and turn himself into the character. He said: "If this is to be a serious film, which I hope it is, this will be a very complex and difficult character for him to play accurately."