In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jodie Foster vehemently defends her Beaver co-star and friend Mel Gibson.

She talks about how talented she is and how much she loves her current Beaver leading man.

“He’s so incredibly loving and sensitive, he really is,” she tells the mag. “He is the most loved actor I have ever worked with on a movie. And he’s not saintly, and he’s got a big mouth, and he’ll do gross things your nephew would do. But I knew the minute I met him that I would love him the rest of my life.”

She adds: “I know him in a very complex way. He’s a real person; he’s not a cardboard cutout. I know that he has troubles, and when you love somebody you don’t just walk away from them when they are struggling.”

She also talks about his performance in The Beaver, which made it's premiere in at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX.

“The performance he gave in this movie, I will always be grateful for." She gushes. "He brought a lifetime of pain to the character that we’ve been talking about for years, that I knew was part of his psyche and who he is. It’s part of him that is beautiful and that I want people to know, too. I can’t ever regret that.”

The Beaver is set to hit theaters on May 20, 2011.