After several legal issues and controversial statements leaked to the public, Gibson's popularity in Hollywood declined, affecting his careers in acting and directing.[8] His career began seeing a resurgence with his performance in Edge of Darkness (2010) and Jodie Foster's The Beaver (2011). His directorial comeback after an absence of 10 years, Hacksaw Ridge (2016), won two Academy Awards,[9][10] and was nominated for another four including Best Picture and Best Director for Gibson, his second nomination in the category.
Early life
Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, of Irish descent, the sixth of 11 children, and the second son of Hutton Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia (née Reilly, died 1990).[11][12] Gibson's paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia to Irish parents,[13] while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the Southern United States.[14][15] One of Gibson's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name is derived from St Mel's Cathedral, situated in his mother's hometown of Longford.[16] His second name, Colmcille,[17] is also shared with an Irish saint.[18] Because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship.[19] Gibson is also an Australian permanent resident.[20][21]
Gibson's father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against the New York Central Railroad on February 14, 1968 (equivalent to $1,270,450in 2023), and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney, Australia.[22] Gibson was 12 years old at the time. The move to his grandmother's native Australia was for economic reasons, and his father's expectation that the Australian Defence Forces would reject his eldest son for the draft during the Vietnam War.[23]
Gibson gained very favorable notices from film critics when he first entered the cinematic scene, as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars. In 1982, Vincent Canby wrote that "Mr. Gibson recalls the young Steve McQueen... I can't define 'star quality,' but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it."[26] Gibson has also been likened to "a combination Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart."[27] Gibson's roles in the Mad Max series of films, Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), and the Lethal Weapon series of films earned him the label of "action hero".[28]
While a student at NIDA, Gibson made his film debut in the 1977 film Summer City, for which he was paid $400.[34] Gibson then played the title character in the film Mad Max (1979). He was paid $9000 for this role. Shortly after making the film he did a season with the South Australian Theatre Company. During this period he shared a $30 a week apartment in Adelaide with his future wife Robyn Moore. After Mad Max, Gibson also played a mentally slow youth in the film Tim (also 1979).[35] During this period Gibson also appeared in Australian television series guest roles. He appeared in serial The Sullivans as naval lieutenant Ray Henderson,[36] in police proceduralCop Shop,[35] and in the pilot episode of prison serial Punishment which was produced in 1980, screened 1981.[37][38]
Gibson joined the cast of the World War II action film Attack Force Z, which was not released until 1982 when Gibson had become a bigger star. Director Peter Weir cast Gibson as one of the leads in the World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson another Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.[6]Gallipoli also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor and gained him the Hollywood agent Ed Limato. The sequel Mad Max 2 (1982) was his first hit in America, where it was released as The Road Warrior. Gibson again received positive notices for his role in Peter Weir's romantic thriller The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Following a one-year hiatus from film acting after the birth of his twin sons, Gibson took on the role of Fletcher Christian in The Bounty (1984). Gibson earned his first million dollar salary for playing Max Rockatansky for the third time, in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).[39][40]
While promoting Signs, Gibson said that he no longer wanted to be a movie star and would only act in film again if the script were truly extraordinary. In 2010, Gibson appeared in Edge of Darkness, which marked his first starring role since 2002[45] and was an adaptation of the BBC miniseries, Edge of Darkness.[46] In June of the same year, Gibson was in Brownsville, Texas, filming scenes for the film Get the Gringo, about a career criminal put in a tough prison in Mexico.[47]
In 2010, following an outburst at his ex-girlfriend that was made public, Gibson was dropped from the talent agency of William Morris Endeavor.[48] Gibson was lined up for a small role in The Hangover Part II but he was removed from the film after the cast and crew objected to his involvement.[49]
After his success in Hollywood with the Lethal Weapon series, Gibson began to move into producing and directing. With partner Bruce Davey, Gibson formed Icon Productions in 1989 in order to make Hamlet. In addition to producing or co-producing many of Gibson's own star vehicles, Icon has turned out many other small films, ranging from Immortal Beloved to An Ideal Husband. Gibson has taken supporting roles in some of these films, such as The Million Dollar Hotel and The Singing Detective. Gibson has also produced a number of projects for television, including a biopic on the Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier. Icon has grown from being just a production company to also be an international distribution company and film exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand.[51] Gibson is credited as an executive producer of the 2023 movie Sound of Freedom, a film based on a true story which revolves around the topic of trafficking of children.[52]
Directing
According to Robert Downey Jr., studio executives encouraged Gibson in 1989 to try directing, an idea he rebuffed at the time.[53] Gibson made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without a Face, followed two years later by Braveheart, which earned Gibson the Academy Award for Best Director. Gibson had long planned to direct a remake of Fahrenheit 451, but in 1999 the project was indefinitely postponed because of scheduling conflicts.[54] Gibson was scheduled to direct Robert Downey Jr. in a Los Angeles stage production of Hamlet in January 2001, but Downey's drug relapse ended the project.[55] In 2002, while promoting We Were Soldiers and Signs to the press, Gibson mentioned that he was planning to pare back on acting and return to directing.[56] In September 2002, Gibson announced that he would direct a film called The Passion in Aramaic and Latin with no subtitles because he hoped to "transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling."[57]
In 2004, he released the controversial film The Passion of the Christ, with subtitles, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and directed. The film went on to become the highest-grossing rated R film at the time with $370,782,930 in U.S. box office sales.[58] Gibson directed a few episodes of Complete Savages for the ABC network. In 2006, he directed the action-adventure film Apocalypto, his second film to feature sparse dialogue in a non-English language.
Gibson has expressed an intention to direct a movie set during the Viking Age, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Like The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto, he wants this speculative film to feature dialogue in period languages.[59] However, DiCaprio ultimately opted out of the project.[60] In a 2012 interview, Gibson announced that the project, which he has titled Berserker, was still moving forward.[61]
In 2011, it was announced that Gibson had commissioned a screenplay from Joe Eszterhas about the Maccabees. The film is to be distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures. The announcement generated significant controversy.[62] In April 2012, Eszterhas wrote a letter to Gibson accusing him of sabotaging their film about the Maccabees because he "hates Jews", and cited a series of private incidents during which he allegedly heard Gibson express extremely racist views. Although written as a private letter, it was subsequently published on a film industry website.[63] In response, Gibson stated that he still intends to make the film, but will not base it upon Eszterhas's script, which he called substandard.[64] Eszterhas then claimed his son had secretly recorded a number of Gibson's alleged "hateful rants".[65] In a 2012 interview, Gibson explained that the Maccabees film was still in preparation. He explained that he was drawn to the Biblical account of the uprising due to its similarity to the American Old West genre.[61]
Gibson in 2007
In June 2016, Gibson announced that he will reunite with Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace to make a sequel for The Passion of the Christ, focusing on the resurrection of Jesus.[66] In early November 2016, Gibson revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the sequel's title will be The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection. He also stated that the project could "probably be three years off" because "it's a big subject".[67] In January 2023, it was reported that the sequel will begin filming later that year.[68]
In November 2016, film critic Matt Zoller Seitz named Gibson as "the pre-eminent religious filmmaker in the United States".[69]
In May 2018, it was announced that Gibson would be directing a WWII film titled Destroyer.[70]Destroyer, similar to Hacksaw Ridge, will also deal with the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific Theater, although from a different front. It will be based on the heroic story of the crew belonging to USS Laffey (DD-724), who defended their ship from 22 kamikaze attacks.
In 2021, after the death of Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner, Gibson has stated that he will direct, and also star, in a Lethal Weapon 5.[73]
In May 2023, it was announced that Gibson would direct a film titled Flight Risk, starring Mark Wahlberg. Set to be released by Lionsgate, the film will star Wahlberg as "a pilot transporting a dangerous criminal for trial."[74] It was later reported that the film had begun shooting in Las Vegas on June 16. Filming was reportedly unaffected by the SAG-AFTRA strike, having been exempted as an independent project.[75]
Directing style
Gibson has credited his directors, particularly George Miller, Peter Weir, and Richard Donner, with teaching him the craft of filmmaking and influencing him as a director. As a director, Gibson sometimes breaks the tension on set by having his actors perform serious scenes wearing a red clown nose.[76]Helena Bonham Carter said of him, "He has a very basic sense of humor. It's a bit lavatorial and not very sophisticated."[77] Gibson inserted a single frame of himself smoking a cigarette into the 2005 teaser trailer of Apocalypto.[78]
Gibson's screen acting career began in 1976, with a role on the Australian television series The Sullivans. In his career, Gibson has appeared in 43 films, including the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon film series. In addition to acting, Gibson has also directed four films, including Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ; produced 11 films; and written two films. Films either starring or directed by Mel Gibson have earned over US$2.5billion, in the United States alone.[79][80] Gibson's filmography includes television series, feature films, television films, and animated films.
Gibson got his breakthrough role as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max. The independently financed blockbuster helped to make him an international star. In the United States, the actors' Australian accents were dubbed with American accents.[81] The original film spawned two sequels: Mad Max 2 (known in North America as The Road Warrior) and Mad Max 3 (known in North America as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). A fourth movie, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), was made with Tom Hardy in the title role.[82]
The 1981 Peter Weir film Gallipoli is about a group of young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. They are sent to invade the Ottoman Empire, where they take part in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the war. The climax of the movie centers on the catastrophic Australian offensive known as the Battle of the Nek.
Peter Weir cast Gibson in the role of Frank Dunne, an Irish-Australian drifter with an intense cynicism about fighting for the British Empire. Newcomer Mark Lee was recruited to play the idealistic Archy Hamilton after participating in a photo session for the director. Gibson later recalled:
I'd auditioned for an earlier film and he told me right up front, "I'm not going to cast you for this part. You're not old enough. But thanks for coming in, I just wanted to meet you." He told me he wanted me for Gallipoli a couple of years later because I wasn't the archetypal Australian. He had Mark Lee, the angelic-looking, ideal Australian kid, and he wanted something of a modern sensibility. He thought the audience needed someone to relate to of their own time.[83]
Gibson later said that Gallipoli is, "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men."
Gibson played a naïve but ambitious journalist opposite Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hunt in Peter Weir's atmospheric 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Koch. The movie was both a critical and commercial success, and the upcoming Australian actor was heavily marketed by MGM studio. In his review of the film, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "If this film doesn't make an international star of Mr. Gibson, then nothing will. He possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence."[86] According to John Hiscock of The Daily Telegraph, the film did, indeed, establish Gibson as an international talent.[87]
Gibson was initially reluctant to accept the role of Guy Hamilton. "I didn't necessarily see my role as a great challenge. My character was, like the film suggests, a puppet. And I went with that. It wasn't some star thing, even though they advertised it that way."[88] Gibson saw some similarities between himself and the character of Guy. "He's not a silver-tongued devil. He's kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me."[27]
Gibson followed the footsteps of Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, and Marlon Brando by starring as Fletcher Christian in a cinematic retelling of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The resulting 1984 film The Bounty is considered to be the most historically accurate version. However, Gibson has expressed a belief that the film's revisionism did not go far enough. He has stated that his character should have been portrayed as the film's antagonist. He has further praised Anthony Hopkins's performance as Lieutenant William Bligh as the best aspect of the film.[88]
Gibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular action comedy film series Lethal Weapon, which began with the 1987 original. In the films he played LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, a recently widowed Vietnam veteran with a death wish and a penchant for violence and gunplay. In the films, he is partnered with a reserved family man named Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and starting with the second film, they're joined by a hyperactive informant named Leo Getz (Joe Pesci). Following the success of Lethal Weapon, director Richard Donner and principal cast revisited the characters in three sequels, Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1993), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). With its fourth installment, the Lethal Weapon series embodied "the quintessence of the buddy cop pic".[89]
The film series has since been rebooted with a television adaptation, which aired for three seasons on FOX.
On November 15, 2021, Gibson confirmed that he will direct the fifth Lethal Weapon film following the death of director Richard Donner. "The man who directed all the 'Lethal films', Richard Donner, he was a big guy. He was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it. And he said to me one day, 'Listen kid, if I kick the bucket you will do it.' And I said: 'Shut up.' But he did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and at the time I didn't say anything. He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So I will be directing the fifth one" Gibson said.[90] In June 2024, Gibson confirmed in an interview with the Inspire Me podcast that he would direct the fifth installment of the Lethal Weapon franchise and that the film would stay true to Donner's vision and influence.[91][92] Gibson also stated that he and Glover would return to play their respective roles of Riggs and Murtaugh.[93]
Gibson made the unusual transition from action to classical drama, playing William Shakespeare's Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Gibson was cast alongside experienced Shakespearean actors Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He compared working with Scofield to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".[94] Scofield said of Gibson "Not the sort of actor you'd think would make an ideal Hamlet, but he had enormous integrity and intelligence."[95]
In 1995, Gibson directed, produced, and starred in Braveheart, a biographical film of Sir William Wallace, a Scottish nationalist who was executed in 1305 for "high treason" against King Edward I of England. Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his second directorial effort. In winning the Academy Award for Best Director, Gibson became only the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to do so.[96]Braveheart influenced the Scottish nationalist movement and helped to revive the film genre of the historical epic; the Battle of Stirling Bridge sequence is considered by critics to be one of the all-time best-directed battle scenes.[97]
The film's depiction of the Prince of Wales as an effeminate homosexual caused the film to be attacked by Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which was especially enraged by a scene in which King Edward I murders his son's male lover by throwing him out of a castle window.[98]
Gibson, who had previously been reported making several homophobic statements,[99] now replied, "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."[98]
Gibson asserted that the reason that King Edward I kills his son's lover is because the king is a "psychopath".[100] Gibson also expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers laughed at this murder:
We cut a scene out, unfortunately ... where you really got to know that character (Edward II) and to understand his plight and his pain... But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, "When's this story going to start?"[101]
Gibson directed, produced, co-wrote, and funded the film The Passion of the Christ (2004), which chronicled the passion and death of Jesus (Jim Caviezel). The film was shot exclusively in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew. Gibson originally intended to release the film without subtitles, but eventually relented for theatrical exhibition. The film sparked divergent reviews, ranging from high praise to criticism of the violence. The Anti-Defamation League accused Gibson of antisemitism over the film's unflattering depiction of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
In The Nation, reviewer Katha Pollitt wrote: "Gibson has violated just about every precept of the conference's own 1988 'Criteria' for the portrayal of Jews in dramatizations of the Passion (no bloodthirsty Jews, no rabble, no use of Scripture that reinforces negative stereotypes of Jews, etc.) ... The priests have big noses and gnarly faces, lumpish bodies, yellow teeth; Herod Antipas and his court are a bizarre collection of oily-haired, epicene perverts. The 'good Jews' look like Italian movie stars (Magdalene actually is an Italian movie star, the lovely Monica Bellucci); Mary, who would have been around 50 and appeared 70, could pass for a ripe 35."[102]
Among those to defend Gibson were Orthodox Jewish rabbi Daniel Lapin and radio personality Michael Medved.[103] Referring to ADL National Director Abraham Foxman, Rabbi Lapin said that by calling The Passion of the Christ antisemitic, "what he is saying is that the only way (for Christians) to escape the wrath of Foxman is to repudiate (their own) faith."[103]
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Gibson stated: "If anyone has distorted Gospel passages to rationalize cruelty towards Jews or anyone, it's in defiance of repeated Papal condemnation. The Papacy has condemned racism in any form... Jesus died for the sins of all times, and I'll be the first on the line for culpability".[104]
Eventually, the continued media attacks began to anger Gibson. After Hutton Gibson's Holocaust denial was used to attack his son's film in print by The New York Times writer Frank Rich,[105] an enraged Mel Gibson retorted, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick.... I want to kill his dog."[106][107]
Gibson's Traditionalist Catholic upbringing was also the target of criticism. In a 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson stated that he feels that his "human rights were violated" by the often vitriolic attacks on his person, his family, and his religious beliefs which were sparked by The Passion.[108]
The film grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the U.S. alone,[109] surpassing any motion picture starring Gibson.[110] In U.S. box offices, it became the seventh-highest-grossing (at the time) film in history[111] and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.[112] The film was nominated for three Academy Awards[113] and won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture.[114]
Gibson himself has stated that the film is an attempt at making a deliberate point about great civilizations and what causes them to decline and disintegrate. Gibson said, "People think that modern man is so enlightened, but we're susceptible to the same forces—and we are also capable of the same heroism and transcendence."[118][119] This theme is further explored by a quote from Will Durant, which is superimposed at the very beginning of the film: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
Gibson starred in The Beaver, a domestic drama about a depressed alcoholic directed by former Maverick costar Jodie Foster.[120]The Beaver premiered at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas on March 16, 2011. The opening weekend in 22 theaters was considered a flop; it made $104,000 which comes to a per-theater average of $4,745.[121] The film's distributor, Summit Entertainment, had originally planned for a wide release of The Beaver for the weekend of May 20, but after the initial box-office returns for the film, the company changed course and decided instead to give the film a "limited art-house run".[122]Michael Cieply of The New York Times observed on June 5, 2011, that the film had cleared just about $1million, making it a certified "flop".[123] Director Jodie Foster opined that the film did not do well with American audiences because it was a dramedy, and "very often Americans are not comfortable with [that]".[124]
Before its release, much of the coverage focussed on the unavoidable association between the protagonist's issues and Mel Gibson's own well-publicized personal and legal problems (see §Alcohol abuse and legal issues), including a conviction of battery of his ex-girlfriend.[125] Wrote Time magazine, "The Beaver is a somber, sad domestic drama featuring an alcoholic in acute crisis ... It's hard to separate Gibson's true-life story from what's happening onscreen."[126]
Gibson met Robyn Denise Moore in 1977,[134] soon after filming Mad Max, in Adelaide, South Australia. At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company.[135] On June 7, 1980, Mel and Robyn were married in a Catholic church in Forestville, New South Wales.[136] They have one daughter, Hannah (b. 1980, married Kenny Wayne Shepherd in 2006), and six sons: twins Edward and Christian (b. 1982), William (b. 1985), Louis (b. 1988), Milo (b. 1990), and Thomas (b. 1999); and seven grandchildren as of 2024[update].[137][138]
After 26 years of marriage, Gibson and Robyn separated on July 29, 2006.[139][140] In a 2011 interview, Gibson stated that the separation began the day following his arrest for drunk driving in Malibu.[141] Robyn Gibson filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. In a joint statement, the Gibsons declared, "Throughout our marriage and separation we have always striven to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so."[17] The divorce filing followed the March 2009 release of photographs appearing to show him on a beach embracing his live-in girlfriend of one year, Russian songwriter and pianist Oksana Grigorieva.[142][143]
The Gibsons' divorce was finalized on December 23, 2011, and the settlement with his ex-wife was said to be the highest in Hollywood history at over $400million.[144] The couple reportedly did not have a prenuptial agreement; because California is a community property state,[145] Robyn Gibson received half of everything her husband had earned during their marriage.[144]
Oksana Grigorieva
In a 2010 interview, Grigorieva stated that, when she first began being wooed by Gibson, she was surprised and only accepted his advances after learning that the actor-director and his wife had been separated for more than 18 months. Grigorieva added, "He wrote me a lot of poetry. It was very beautiful, impressionistic, like an edgy, modern iambic pentameter. Mel has a really good grasp of language, he's fantastic with words."[146]
On April 28, 2009, Gibson made a red carpet-appearance with Grigorieva. She had previously had a son with actor Timothy Dalton[147] and gave birth to Gibson's daughter Lucia on October 30, 2009.[148][149][150] By April 2010, Gibson and Grigorieva had split.[151] On June 21, 2010, Grigorieva filed a restraining order against Gibson to keep him away from her and their child. The restraining order was modified the next day regarding Gibson's contact with their child.[152] Gibson obtained a restraining order against Grigorieva on June 25, 2010.[152][153]
Gibson's 2011 mugshot from booking with El Segundo Police Department
Grigorieva accused Gibson of domestic violence, leading to an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in July 2010.[155][156] On July 9, 2010, some audio recordings of a rant, allegedly directed by Gibson toward Grigorieva, were posted on the internet.[157] The same day Gibson was dropped by his agency, William Morris Endeavor.[157] Gibson's estranged wife Robyn filed a court statement declaring that she never experienced any abuse from Gibson;[158] while forensic experts have questioned the validity of some of the tapes, Gibson himself did not deny they were accurate at the time.[159] In March 2011, Mel Gibson agreed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.[160] In April 2011, Gibson finally broke his silence about the incident in question. In an interview with Deadline Hollywood, Gibson expressed gratitude to longtime friends Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster, both of whom had spoken publicly in his defense. About the recordings, Gibson said,
I've never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality—period. I don't blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited. You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship. It's one terribly awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn't represent what I truly believe or how I've treated people my entire life.[141]
In the same interview, Gibson stated
I was allowed to end the case and still maintain my innocence. It's called a West Plea[161] and it's not something that prosecutors normally allow. But in my case, the prosecutors and the judge agreed that it was the right thing to do. I could have continued to fight this for years and it probably would have come out fine. But I ended it for my children and my family. This was going to be such a circus. You don't drag other people in your life through this sewer needlessly, so I'll take the hit and move on.[141]
In August 2011, Gibson settled with Grigorieva, who was awarded $750,000, joint legal custody, and a house in Sherman Oaks, California until their daughter Lucia turns 18. In 2013, Grigorieva sued her attorneys, accusing them of advising her to sign a bad agreement, including a term that taking legal action against Gibson would compromise her financial settlement.[162]
Rosalind Ross
As of 2014, Gibson is in a relationship with former champion equestrian vaulter and writer Rosalind Ross.[163][164] Ross gave birth to their son, and Gibson's ninth child, Lars Gerard, on January 20, 2017, in Los Angeles.[165]
Investments
Gibson is a property investor, with multiple properties in Malibu, California, several locations in Costa Rica, a private island in Fiji, and properties in Australia.[166][167] In December 2004, Gibson sold his 300 acres (1.2km2) Australian farm in the Kiewa Valley for $6million.[168] Also in December 2004, Gibson purchased Mago Island in Fiji from Tokyu Corporation of Japan for $15million. Descendants of the original native inhabitants of Mago, who were displaced in the 1860s, have protested the purchase. Gibson stated it was his intention to retain the pristine environment of the undeveloped island.[169]
In early 2005, he sold his 45,000 acres (180km2)Montana ranch to a neighbor.[170] In April 2007, he purchased a 400 acres (1.6km2) ranch in Costa Rica for $26million, and, in July 2007, he sold his 76 acres (31ha) Tudor estate in Connecticut (which he purchased in 1994 for $9million) for $40million to an unnamed buyer.[171] Also that month, he sold a Malibu property for $30million that he had purchased for $24million two years before.[172]
Records of Gibson using offshore accounts and business were revealed in the Jersey Leaks, records of more than 20,000 individuals held with the wealth management firm Kleinwort Benson.[174]
Philanthropy
Gibson at the Christmas party for charity Mending Kids International in 2007. His former wife Robyn was president of the charity.
Gibson and his former wife have contributed a substantial amount of money to various charities, one of which is Healing the Children. According to Cris Embleton, one of the founders, the Gibsons gave millions to provide lifesaving medical treatment to needy children worldwide.[175][176] They also supported the restoration of Renaissance artwork[177] and gave millions of dollars to NIDA.[178]
Gibson donated $500,000 to the El Mirador Basin Project to protect the last tract of virgin rain forest in Central America and to fund archeological excavations in the "cradle of Mayan civilization".[179] In July 2007, Gibson again visited Central America to make arrangements for donations to the indigenous population. Gibson met with Costa Rican President Óscar Arias to discuss how to "channel the funds".[180] During the same month, Gibson pledged to give financial assistance to a Malaysian company named Green Rubber Global for a tire recycling factory located in Gallup, New Mexico.[181] While on a business trip to Singapore in September 2007, Gibson donated to a local charity for children with chronic and terminal illnesses.[182] Gibson is also a supporter of Angels at Risk, a nonprofit organization focusing on education about drug and alcohol abuse among teens.[183]
In a 2011 interview, Gibson said of his philanthropic works, "It gives you perspective. It's one of my faults, you tend to focus on yourself a lot. Which is not always the healthiest thing for your psyche or anything else. If you take a little time out to think about other people, it's good. It's uplifting."[184]
During the filming of The Passion of The Christ, he had daily visits from both local priests and priests from the traditionalist Institute of Christ the King (a non-sedevacantist group in full communion with the Pope) in France.[186]
When asked about the Catholic doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, Gibson replied, "There is no salvation for those outside the Church ... I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's ... Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it."[106][187] When he was asked whether John 14:6 is an intolerant position, he said that "through the merits of Jesus' sacrifice ... even people who don't know Jesus are able to be saved, but through him."[188]
Gibson's acquaintance Fr. William Fulco said in 2009 that Gibson denies neither the pope nor Vatican II; even so, as of 2021, Gibson attended the Church of the Holy Family, a traditionalist church he founded and funds in Southern California.[189] Gibson has told Diane Sawyer that he believes non-Catholics and non-Christians can go to Heaven.[108][190]
In a 1990 interview with Barbara Walters, Gibson said: "God is the only one who knows how many children we should have, and we should be ready to accept them. One can't decide for oneself who comes into this world and who doesn't. That decision doesn't belong to us."[191]
Gibson, in a letter published by Italian Traditionalist Catholic author Aldo Maria Valli, on his website, on 6 July 2024, stated his full support for the recently excommunicated Italian archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who he praised as a "a modern day Athanasius!", stating that he agreed with him in considering that the "post conciliar church of Vatican II is a counterfeit church", and that "being called a schismatic & being excommunicated by Jorge Bergoglio is like a badge of honor when you consider he is a total apostate & expels you from a false institution." He also stated that "I am with you & I hope Bergoglio excommunicates me from his false church also."[192]
Politics
In a July 1995 interview with Playboy, Gibson said President Bill Clinton was a "low-level opportunist" and someone was "telling him what to do". He said that the Rhodes Scholarship was established for young men and women who want to strive for a "new world order" and this was a campaign for Marxism.[193] Gibson later backed away from such conspiracy theories saying, "It was like: 'Hey, tell us a conspiracy'...so I laid out this thing, and suddenly, it was like I was talking the gospel truth, espousing all this political shit like I believed in it."[194] In the same 1995 Playboy interview, Gibson argued against ordaining women to the priesthood.[195]
In 2004, he publicly spoke out against taxpayer-funded embryonic stem-cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos.[196] In March 2005, he condemned the outcome of the Terri Schiavo case, referring to Schiavo's death as "state-sanctioned murder".[197]
Gibson questioned the Iraq War in March 2004.[198] In 2006, Gibson said that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."[199] He later said in 2016 that he is anti-war but has an appreciation for the sacrifices made by "warriors".[200]
Gibson complimented filmmaker Michael Moore and his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 when he and Moore were recognized at the 2005 People's Choice Awards.[201] Gibson's Icon Productions originally agreed to finance Moore's film but later sold the rights to Miramax Films. Moore said that his agent Ari Emanuel claimed that "top Republicans" called Gibson to tell him, "don't expect to get more invitations to the White House".[202] Icon's spokesman dismissed this story, saying "We never run from a controversy. You'd have to be out of your mind to think that of the company that just put out The Passion of the Christ."[203]
In a 2011 interview, Gibson stated:
The whole notion of politics is they always present you with this or this or this. I'll get a newspaper to read between the lines. Why do you have to adhere to prescribed formulas that they have and people argue over them and they're all in a box. And you watch Fox claw CNN, and CNN claw Fox. Sometimes I catch a piece of the news and it seems insanity to me. I quietly support candidates. I'm not out there banging a drum for candidates. But I have supported a candidate and it's a whole other world. Once you've been exposed to it, once or twice or however many times, if you know the facts and see how they're presented, it's mind-boggling. It's a very scary arena to be in, but I do vote. I go in there and pull the lever. It's kind of like pulling the lever and watching the trap door fall out from beneath you. Why should we trust any of these people? None of them ever deliver on anything. It's always disappointing.[141]
Gibson was banned from driving in Ontario, Canada, for three months in 1984, after rear-ending a car in Toronto while under the influence of alcohol.[212] He retreated to his Australian farm for over a year to recover, but he continued to struggle with drinking. Despite this problem, Gibson gained a reputation in Hollywood for professionalism and punctuality such that frequent collaborator Richard Donner was shocked when Gibson confided that he was drinking five pints of beer for breakfast.[108] Reflecting in 2003 and 2004, Gibson said that despair in his mid-30s led him to contemplate suicide, and he meditated on Christ's Passion to heal his wounds.[108][187][213] He took more time off acting in 1991 and sought professional help.[214] That year, Gibson's attorneys were unsuccessful at blocking the Sunday Mirror from publishing what Gibson shared at AA meetings.[215] In 1992, Gibson provided financial support to Hollywood's Recovery Center, saying, "Alcoholism is something that runs in my family. It's something that's close to me. People do come back from it, and it's a miracle."[216]
On August 17, 2006, Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge and was sentenced to three years' probation.[217] He was ordered to attend self-help meetings five times a week for four-and-a-half months and three times a week for the remainder of the first year of his probation. He was also ordered to attend a First Offenders Program and fined $1,300, and his license was restricted for 90 days.[217]
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) accused Gibson of homophobia after a December 1991 interview in the Spanish newspaper El País in which he made derogatory comments about gay people.[99][218] Gibson later defended his comments,[99] and rejected calls to apologize even as he faced fresh accusations of homophobia in the wake of his film Braveheart.[193] Gibson joined GLAAD in hosting 10 lesbian and gay filmmakers for an on-location seminar on the set of the movie Conspiracy Theory in January 1997.[219] In 1999, when asked about the comments to El País, Gibson said, "I shouldn't have said it, but I was tickling a bit of vodka during that interview, and the quote came back to bite me on the ass."[194]
On July 28, 2006, Gibson was arrested by Sheriff's Deputy James Mee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for driving under the influence (DUI) while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol. According to a 2011 article in Vanity Fair, Gibson first told the arresting officer, "My life is over. I'm fucked. Robyn's going to leave me."[220] According to the arrest report, Gibson exploded into an angry tirade when the arresting officer would not allow him to drive home. In what Vanity Fair was later told was an attempt at suicide by cop,[220] Gibson said to the arresting officer, "Fucking Jews... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?"[221][222][223]
After the arrest report was leaked on TMZ.com, Gibson issued two apologies through his publicist,[224] and—in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer—he affirmed the accuracy of the quotations.[225] He further apologized for his "despicable" behavior, saying that the comments were "blurted out in a moment of insanity",[217] and asked to meet with Jewish leaders to help him "discern the appropriate path for healing."[226] After Gibson's arrest, his publicist said he had entered a recovery program to battle alcoholism.
Winona Ryder has repeatedly told a story to various press outlets about speaking to Mel Gibson with her friend at party. Gibson allegedly responded to her friend, who was gay, by asking if he was going to get AIDS from speaking with him, and later asked Ryder if she was an "oven dodger."[227] A representative of Gibson later denied the accusations.[228]
In July 2010, Gibson had been recorded during a phone call with Grigorieva suggesting that if she got "raped by a pack of niggers", she would be to blame.[229][230][231][232] Grigorieva said the voices on the multiple recordings leaked were of herself and Gibson, according to CNN.[233] He was barred from coming near Grigorieva or their daughter due to a domestic violence-related restraining order.[229] The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department launched a domestic violence investigation against Gibson,[156] later dropped when Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.[160]
Gibson's controversial statements resulted in him being blacklisted in Hollywood for almost a decade.[234] Both Robert Downey Jr. and journalist Allison Hope Weiner advocated for forgiveness for Gibson in 2014.[235][236] In 2016, Gibson's film Hacksaw Ridge, which received six Academy Award nominations, resulted in what was perceived as a "thaw" in his reputation.[237]
In 1985, Gibson was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People, the first person to be named so.[238] Gibson quietly declined the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government in 1995 as a protest against France's resumption of nuclear testing in the Southwest Pacific.[239] On July 25, 1997, Gibson was named an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), in recognition of his "service to the Australian film industry". The award was honorary because substantive awards are made only to Australian citizens.[240][241]
↑ Michael Fleming (July 2000). "Mel's Movies". Movieline.
↑ Thomas, Bob (September 21, 1981). "'Gallipoli' an Australian project". The Blade. Associated Press. Retrieved October 21, 2014– via Google News Archive.
↑ Hiscock, John (January 21, 2010). "Mel Gibson interview". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
1 2 Michael Fleming (July 2000). "Mel's Movies". Movieline.
1 2 3 Wockner, Rex. "Mel Gibson, Circa 1992, "Refuses to Apologize to Gays"."San Francisco Bay Times. August 17, 2006. Quote: Asked what he thought of gay people, he said, "They take it up the ass." Gibson then proceeded to point at his posterior and said: "This is only for taking a shit." When reminded that he had worked closely with gay people at drama school, Gibson said, "They were good people, kind, I like them. But their thing is not my thing." When the interviewer asked if Gibson was afraid that people would think he is gay because he's an actor, Gibson replied, "Do I sound like a homosexual? Do I talk like them? Do I move like them? What happens is when you're an actor, they stick that label on you."
↑ Galloway, Stephen. The Hollywood Reporter. October 30, 1995. "It was a definite decision to make a protest against the nuclear tests", said Gibson, who is mad at French President Jacques Chirac for deciding to detonate some bombs in the Pacific.
McCarty, John (September 2001). The Films of Mel Gibson. New York: Citadel. ISBN0-8065-2226-7.
Clarkson, Wensley (September 2004). Mel Gibson: Man on a Mission. London: John Blake. ISBN1-85782-537-3.
Further reading
DeAngelis, Michael (2001). Gay Fandom and Crossover Stardom: James Dean, Mel Gibson, and Keanu Reeves. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN0-8223-2728-7.
Braveheart is a 1995 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays Scottish warrior William Wallace in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The film also stars Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack and Angus Macfadyen. The story is inspired by Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace.
Hamlet is a 1990 drama film based on the Shakespearean tragedy of the same name, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson as the eponymous character. The film also features Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Paul Scofield, Ian Holm, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Dillane, and Nathaniel Parker. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy, the film was the first produced by Icon Productions, a company co-founded by Gibson.
Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In Lethal Weapon, a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives—Martin Riggs (Gibson), a former Green Beret who has become suicidal following the death of his wife, and veteran officer and family man Roger Murtaugh (Glover)—work together as partners.
Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, film director and producer who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the historical drama film Braveheart (1995). His work on the film earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America Award in the same category. He has since directed films such as The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), We Were Soldiers (2002), Secretariat (2010) and Heaven Is for Real (2014).
Richard Donner was an American film director and producer. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters", Donner directed some of the most financially-successful films of the 1970s and 1980s. His 50-year career crossed genres and influenced trends among filmmakers across the world.
Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 American buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li. It is the fourth installment in the Lethal Weapon film series. It is the last film in the series directed by Donner before his death, and the latest to be released theatrically.
Apocalypto is a 2006 epic historical action-adventure film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Farhad Safinia. The film features a cast of Indigenous and Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Jonathan Brewer, Rodolfo Palacios, Bernardo Ruiz Juarez, Ammel Rodrigo Mendoza, Ricardo Diaz Mendoza, and Israel Contreras. Set in Yucatán around the year 1517, Apocalypto portrays the hero's journey of a young man named Jaguar Paw, a late Mesoamerican hunter and his fellow tribesmen who are captured by an invading force. After a raid on their village, they are brought on a perilous journey to a Maya city for human sacrifice at a time when the Maya civilization is in decline.
Martin Riggs is a fictional character from the Lethal Weapon film series created by Shane Black. Riggs was originally played by actor Mel Gibson in all four films from 1987 to 1998, and later by Clayne Crawford in the Fox television series from 2016 to 2018.
Andrew Russell Garfield is an English and American actor. He came to international attention in 2010 with the supporting role of Eduardo Saverin in the drama The Social Network. He gained wider recognition for playing Spider-Man in the superhero films The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), and later in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Icon Productions is an Australian-American production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production costs, allowing it to retain creative control of its projects. Its headquarters are in Santa Monica, California.
Apocalypto: Original Score is the soundtrack to the 2006 film of the same name by Mel Gibson. It was released on the Hollywood Records label.
Lethal Weapon is an American buddy cop action-comedy media franchise created by Shane Black. It focuses on two Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The franchise consists of a series of four films released between 1987 and 1998 and a television series which aired from 2016 to 2019. The four films were directed by Richard Donner and also share many of the same core cast members, while the television series is a reboot with different actors. Although the first film was not explicitly a comedy, the later films and the television series gradually became comedic in nature.
Oksana Petrovna Grigorieva is a Russian singer-songwriter and pianist. She studied music in Moscow and completed conservatoire studies in Kazan, before moving to London. After studying music at the Royal Academy of Music, she moved to the United States, with periods spent living in New York City and Los Angeles, California. She taught music in the U.S., and patented a technique of teaching musical notation to children.
Mel Gibson is an American actor, director, and producer, who made his acting debut on the Australian television drama series The Sullivans (1976–1983). While a student at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, he was given an uncredited role in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and subsequently appeared as a leading actor in the micro budget surf drama Summer City. Gibson rose to prominence during the Australian New Wave cinema movement in the early 1980s, having appeared in his breakthrough role in George Miller's dystopian action film Mad Max (1979), portraying the eponymous hero. He reprised the role in its sequels, Mad Max 2 (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He appeared in Peter Weir's war drama Gallipoli (1981) and the romantic drama The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Five years later he played Martin Riggs in the buddy cop action comedy Lethal Weapon alongside Danny Glover—a role he later reprised in its sequels Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).
Beautiful Heartache is a 2009 studio album by Russian pianist and singer-songwriter, Oksana Grigorieva, with Mel Gibson as executive producer.
Hacksaw Ridge is a 2016 epic biographical war film directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based on the 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector directed by Terry Benedict.
The Conscientious Objector is a 2004 documentary film directed by Terry Benedict about the life of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who received the Medal of Honor for his service in World War II. Due to his religious convictions as a Seventh-day Adventist, Doss refused to carry a weapon. He initially faced opposition, persecution, and ridicule from his fellow soldiers, but ultimately won their admiration by demonstrating courage and saving many lives as a combat medic.
Michael G. “Mic” Rodgers is an American film and commercial director, second unit director, stunt coordinator, and stunt performer. As a stunt performer, he is known for serving as a stunt double for actors such as Mel Gibson. He has also served as a second unit action director and/or stunt coordinator for films such as Braveheart,Hacksaw Ridge,The Fast and The Furious, and Twister. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2002 for his invention of the “Mic Rig,” a stunt vehicle. He has also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work on Hacksaw Ridge and two Taurus World Stunt awards.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
