Mel Gibson

This article is about the actor. For the basketball player, see Mel Gibson (basketball).

Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson at the 1990 Air America premiere (photo by Alan Light).
Born	Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson
Occupation(s)	Actor, Director, Producer
Spouse	Robyn Moore (1980-)
Children	Seven

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3 1956) is an American-born actor, director and producer. Gibson moved to Australia when he was 12 years old and he later studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. After establishing himself as a household name with the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart. Gibson's direction of Braveheart made him the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an Oscar for Best Director. In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a blockbuster movie that portrayed the last hours of the life of Jesus. Gibson is an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia and was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity in the annual list by Forbes magazine in 2004.

Early life

Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children. He is the second son of Hutton Gibson and Irish-born Anne Reilly Gibson. His paternal grandmother was the Australian opera soprano, Eva Mylott (1875-1920). One of Mel's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name comes from a 5th century Irish Saint, Mel, founder of the diocese of Ardagh which contains most of his mother's native County, while his second name, Columcille, is also linked to an Irish saint. Columcille is also the name of the parish in County Longford where Anne Reilly was born and raised.

Hutton Gibson relocated his family to Sydney, Australia in 1968, after winning $145,000 in a work related injury lawsuit against New York Central on February 14, 1968. The family moved when Gibson was twelve. The move to Hutton's mother's native Australia was for economic reasons and because he thought the Australian military would reject his oldest son for the Vietnam War draft.

Gibson was educated by Christian Brothers at St. Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales during his High School years.

Film career

Gibson graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 1977. His acting career began in Australia with appearances in television series, including The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Punishment. He made his film debut in the 1977 Australian film Summer City.

In the next few years he also acted on stage for the Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, starring as Romeo (1979) and working with Warren Mitchell in Death of a salesman (1982).

Gibson's good looks made him a natural for leading male roles in action projects such as the "Mad Max" series of films, Peter Weir's Gallipoli, and the "Lethal Weapon" series of films. Later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. His greatest artistic and financial success came with films where he expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, such as 1993's The Man Without a Face, 1995's Braveheart, 2004's Passion of the Christ and 2006's Apocalypto. Gibson was considered for roles in Batman, GoldenEye, Amadeus, Gladiator, The Golden Child, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Runaway Bride and Primary Colors. Actor Sean Connery once suggested Gibson should play the next James Bond to Connery's M. Gibson turned down the role, reportedly because he feared being typecast.

Honors

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. In 1985, Gibson was named "The Sexiest Man Alive" by People, the first person to be named so. 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. Time magazine chose Mel Gibson and Michael Moore as Men of the Year in 2004, but Gibson turned down the photo session and interview, and the cover went instead to George W. Bush.

Landmark films

Mad Max

Main article: Mad Max

Gibson got his breakthrough role as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max. The film was independently financed and had a reported budget of $300,000 AUD — of which $15,000 was paid to Mel Gibson for his performance. The film achieved incredible success, earning $100 million world wide. It held a record in Guinness Book of Records as the highest profit-to-cost ratio of a motion picture, and only lost the record in 2000 to The Blair Witch Project. The film was awarded four Australian Film Institute Awards in 1979.

Gibson almost did not get the role that made him a star. His agent got him an audition for Mad Max, but the night before, he got into a drunken brawl with three men at a party, resulting in a swollen nose, a broken jawline, and various other bruises. Mel showed up at the audition the next day looking like a "black and blue pumpkin" (his own words). Mel did not expect to get the role and only went to accompany his friend. However, the casting agent told Mel to come back in two weeks, telling him "we need freaks." When Mel did come back, he was not recognized because his wounds had healed almost completely, and received the part. This incident is listed in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

When the film was first released in America, all the voices, including that of Mel Gibson's character, were dubbed with U.S. accents at the behest of the distributor, American International Pictures, for fear that audiences would not take warmly to actors speaking entirely with Australian accents.

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 4: Fury Road, has been considered but has not been produced.

The Bounty

Main article: The Bounty

In 1984, starred as Fletcher Christian in The Bounty. According to unauthorised biographer Wensley Clarkson, Gibson and costar Anthony Hopkins, did not get along during the shoot. At the time, Anthony Hopkins was a teetotaler, and Mel Gibson was struggling with alcoholism. Gibson frequently spent his evenings in local saloons and took to mixing two shots of Scotch with his beer. He dubbed the concoction "Liquid Violence". In one incident, Gibson's face was severely cut up in a bar room brawl and the film's shooting schedule had to be rearranged while he was flown to a hospital in Papeete.

Lethal Weapon

Main article: Lethal Weapon

Gibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular buddy cop Lethal Weapon series, 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). This series would come to exemplify the action genre's so-called buddy film.

The two actors were trained in two different schools of acting. Gibson is classically trained and Glover is a method actor. Three sequels were produced in 1989, 1992 and 1998.

Hamlet

Main article: Hamlet (1990 film)

Gibson made the unusual transition from the action to classical genres, playing the melancholic Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Gibson was cast alongside such experienced Shakespearean actors as Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He described working with his fellow cast members as similar to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".

The film met with critical and marketing success and remains steady in DVD sales. It also marked the transformation of Mel Gibson from action hero to serious actor and filmmaker.

Braveheart

Main article: Braveheart

Gibson stated that when the Braveheart script arrived and was recommended by his agents, he rejected it outright because he thought he was too old to play the part. After careful thought, he decided to not only act in the film, but to direct it as well.

Gibson received five Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his 1995 direction of Braveheart. In the movie, Gibson starred as Sir William Wallace, a 13th century martyr of Scottish nationalism.

He said in interviews that he was attempting to make a film similar to the big screen epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and The Big Country. The filming began in the Scottish Highlands. After learning that the intended filming locations were among the rainiest spots in Europe, the shooting was moved to the Republic of Ireland, where members of the Irish Army Reserve worked as extras in the film's many battles. The Battle of Stirling sequence in Braveheart is considered one of the best directed battle scenes in all of film history.

The Passion of the Christ

Main article: The Passion of the Christ

In 2004 Gibson directed The Passion of the Christ which was based on the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus Christ according to the Four Evangelists and Roman Catholic Sacred Tradition. It was rendered multilingually in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin.

Gibson co-wrote the screenplay with writer Benedict Fitzgerald and financed the film himself, spending an estimated $40-$50 million of his own money. The filming took place on location in Matera, Italy and Cinecittà Studios in Rome. Prior to making the film, Gibson constructed a traditionalist Catholic chapel on his California estate.

Reviews were mixed, with critics ranging from praising the film for its realistic depiction of Jesus' final hours from a Catholic point of view and criticism of violence, manipulation and charges of anti-Semitism.

Asked if his movie would "upset Jews", Gibson responded, "It's not meant to. I think it's meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible." Accusations of anti-Semitism were fueled by news reports that Mel Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, is a vocal Sedevacantist who has alleged that much of the Holocaust is "fiction".

After Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote against the unreleased film and called Gibson's publicist a “Holocaust denier defender,” Gibson was overheard by The New Yorker telling his publicist, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog."

On his decision to cut the scene in which Caiaphas says "his blood be on us and on our children" soon after Pontius Pilate washes his hands of Jesus, Gibson said in mid-2003:

I wanted it in. My brother said I was wimping out if I didn't include it. But, man, if I included that in there, they'd be coming after me at my house. They'd come to kill me.

In 2004, he further commented:

It's one little passage, and I believe it, but I don't and never have believed it refers to Jews, and implicates them in any sort of curse. It's directed at all of us, all men who were there, and all that came after. His blood is on us, and that's what Jesus wanted. But I finally had to admit that one of the reasons I felt strongly about keeping it, aside from the fact it's true, is that I didn't want to let someone else dictate what could or couldn't be said.

The movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the US alone, a figure, at that time, surpassed any motion picture starring Gibson. It became the eighth highest-grossing film in history and the highest-grossing rated R film of all time. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Makeup at the 77th Academy Awards and won the People's Choice Award for Best Drama.

Apocalypto

Main article: Apocalypto

Gibson's next historical epic, Apocalypto, was released to theaters on December 8, 2006. The film is set in Mesoamerica, during the fifteenth century. It focuses on the decline of the Maya civilization which reached its zenith around 600 AD, collapsed around 900 AD, and fell into a period of competing city states until the Conquistadors invaded. Dialogue is spoken in the Yucatec Maya language. It features a cast of actors from Mexico City, the Yucatán, and some Native Americans from the United States.

While Gibson financed the film himself, Disney released it in specific markets.

The film is set against the turbulent end times of the once great Maya civilization.

The title is a Greek term which means "an unveiling" or "new beginning", but the movie is not religiously themed or connected to the biblical Apocalypse.

Gibson pre-screened Apocalypto to two predominantly Native American audiences in Oklahoma, at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby, owned by the Chickasaw Nation, and at Cameron University in Lawton.

Future films

In December 2006, Gibson told "The Sun" newspaper that he does not want to act in another film, because he wants to just direct movies. In March 2007, Gibson told a screening audience that he was preparing another script with Farhad Safinia about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Gibson’s company has long owned the rights to The Professor and the Madman, which tells the story of the creation of the OED.

Gibson has dismissed the rumors that he is considering directing a film about Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Asked in September 2007 if he planned to return to acting and specifically to action roles, Gibson said:

"I think I’m too old for that, but you never know. I just like telling stories. Entertainment is valid and I guess I’ll probably do it again before it’s over. You know, do something that people won’t get mad with me for."

Family & personal life

Gibson met his wife Robyn Moore in the late 1970’s soon after filming Mad Max when they were both tenants at the same house in Adelaide. At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company. On June 7 1980, they married in a Catholic Church in Forestville, New South Wales. Gibson has referred to his wife as "my Rock of Gibraltar, only much prettier" and said, "life is about love and commitment and screw anyone who thinks that's a cliché." They have one daughter, six sons, and one grandchild. Their seven children are Hannah (born 1980), twins Edward and Christian (born 1982), William (born 1985), Louis (born 1988), Milo (born 1990), and Thomas (born 1999).

Daughter Hannah Gibson married Blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd on September 16, 2006. Mel Gibson's spokesman had previously denied the rumor that Hannah was planning to become a nun.

Gibson has an avid interest in real estate investments, with multiple properties in Malibu, CA, several locations in Costa Rica, a private island in Fiji and properties in Australia. In December 2004, Gibson sold his 300-acre (1.2 km²) Australian ranch in the Kiewa Valley for $6 million. Also in December 2004, Gibson purchased Mago Island in Fiji from Tokyu Corporation of Japan for $15 million. 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. In early 2005, he sold his 45,000-acre (180 km²) Montana ranch to a neighbor for an undisclosed multimillion dollar sum. In April 2007 he purchased a 400-acre (1.6 km²) ranch in Costa Rica for $26 million, and in July 2007 he sold his 76 acre Tudor estate in Connecticut (which he purchased in 1994 for $9 million) for $40 million to an unnamed buyer. Also that month, he sold a Malibu property for $30 million that he had purchased for $24 million two years before.

In keeping with his interest in organic foods, Gibson has used his ranch properties to produce all-organic beef.

Mel Gibson has eclectic tastes in music and is particularly fond of Italian opera. He is a lover of Italian Renaissance artwork and is a great admirer of the 17th century artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Much of the cinematography in The Passion of the Christ was modeled after style of this painter.

Gibson's height is disputed. Varied sources place him from 5'6" (170 cm) to 5'11" (180 cm). In 2002 Gibson stood next to interviewer Michael Parkinson (5 ft 10 in) and demonstrated that they were about the same height. It should be noted however that at the time of the interview Parkinson was 67 years old and probably not at his peak height.

Religious and political views

Faith

Based on many of his positions, Gibson may be considered a Traditionalist Catholic. Despite the rumors on whether Gibson shares his father’s adherence to Sedevacantism, Gibson has not spoken publicly on the matter, and some of his public interviews give the opposite impression. As part of his response to a question on whether Pope John Paul II saw The Passion of the Christ, Gibson said,

I’d like to hear what he has to say. I’d like to hear what anyone has to say. This film isn’t made for the elite. Anyone could see this film, even the occupier of the chair of Peter can see this film.

Gibson also referred to him as “Pope John Paul II” in a 2004 Reader’s Digest interview, and acquaintance Father William Fulco has said that Gibson denies neither the Pope nor Vatican II. Gibson has expressed the belief that God is pointing out his path, particularly with respect to the making of The Passion of the Christ. In 2003, he told The New Yorker

"There are signals. Signal graces, they are called. It's as clear as a traffic light. Bing! I mean, it just grabs you and you know you have to listen to that and you have to follow it."

At a screening of the film for clergy, he stated that the Holy Spirit was making the film through him; "I was just directing traffic".

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, like, 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.”

However, Gibson’s assent to this dogma does not mean he thinks that non-Catholics or non-Christians will go to hell. When Gibson was asked at Willow Creek church 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.” Gibson also told Diane Sawyer that he believes non-Catholics can go to heaven.

In May 2007, Mel Gibson flew to Hermosillo, Mexico, where he attended a Tridentine Mass during which grandchildren of his friends and two of his children received the sacrament of Confirmation, administered by Archbishop emeritus Carlos Quintero Arce. The same Archbishop Arce consecrated Gibson's own, private, traditional Roman Catholic church of the Holy Family in Malibu in February, 2007.

Gibson's Traditionalist Catholic beliefs have also been the target of attacks, especially during the controversy over his film The Passion of the Christ. When the film premiered in France, the newspaper Libération, considered the voice of French liberalism, dubbed Gibson's religious beliefs "the Shiite version of Christianity." Gibson has recently stated in an interview with Diane Sawyer 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.

Politics

Gibson has been called everything from “ultraconservative” to “politically very liberal” by acquaintance William Fulco. Although he has denied that he is a Republican, Gibson is often referred to as one in the press, and WorldNetDaily once reported that there was grassroots support among Republicans for "a presidential run".

Gibson complimented exposé director Michael Moore and his documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 when he and Moore were recognized at the 2005 People's Choice Awards. 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 Mel Gibson to tell him, "don’t expect to get more invitations to the White House".

In early 1992, according to the book Quest for the Presidency 1992, Gibson offered to raise money for the presidential campaign of Republican candidate Pat Buchanan. However, allegedly due to poor handling by Buchanan's campaign manager and sister Bay Buchanan, the fundraiser never took place.

In a July 1995 interview with Playboy magazine, 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.

In 2004, he publicly spoke out against taxpayer-funded embryonic stem-cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos.

In March 2005, he issued a statement condemning the ending of Terri Schiavo's life, referring to her death as "state-sanctioned murder" on Sean Hannity's radio show.

Gibson first publicly questioned the Iraq war in March 2004 on Sean Hannity’s radio show. In 2006, Gibson told the Time Magazine that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."

Controversy

Allegations of homophobia

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) accused Gibson of homophobia, after a December 1991 interview in the Spanish newspaper El País. Asked what he thought of gay people, he said, "They take it up the ass." Gibson gestured descriptively, continuing, "This is only for taking a shit." When the interviewer recalled that Gibson previously had expressed fear 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? I think not." However, when reminded that he had worked closely with gay students at university, he said they were "kind people." Additionally, he later defended his comments on Good Morning America, saying, "[Those remarks were a response] to a direct question. If someone wants my opinion, I'll give it. What, am I supposed to lie to them?" In his 1995 Playboy interview, he responded to GLAAD's protests over his comment with "I'll apologize when hell freezes over. They can fuck off". Eventually, however, to make amends with the gay community and show he was not homophobic, 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.

Although Randall Wallace wrote the screenplay for Braveheart, the depiction of a homosexual character in the film drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson. Although historians agree that Prince (later King) Edward II of England was a mere puppet of Piers Gaveston, Hugh Despenser and Isabella of France, they dispute the portrayal of Edward as effeminate. Also, Edward I of England never threw his son's male lover out of a window, as portrayed in the movie.

Gibson was also accused of homophobia based on his portrayal of Herod Antipas in The Passion of the Christ. In the film, the Hellenized Antipas is depicted as a luxurious, wig-wearing buffoon who surrounds himself with young male and female drunken revelers. The character of the Jewish high priest Caiphas is shown to be disgusted by the mascara-wearing Herod and his debauchery. The effeminate portrayal of Antipas in The Passion is common to other representations, including Jesus Christ Superstar. The origin of this tradition may have been Christ’s description of Herod as a “fox” in Luke 13:32, using a feminine word meaning “vixen” in the original Greek.

Allegations of Anglophobia

Due to some of his film choices as well as his Irish and Australian background, accusations of anglophobia, both sincere and joking, have been made against Gibson.

The First World War film Gallipoli, which starred Gibson, included an inaccurate portrayal of the British Army troops "brewing tea" on the beach while ANZAC troops were slaughtered trying to support them at the 1915 Battle of the Nek. Gibson, however, neither wrote the screenplay nor directed the film.

Criticisms have been leveled at the historical accuracy of the Gibson-directed Braveheart, including its portrayal of English lords asserting Droit de seigneur. Gibson has acknowledged the reliance on anachronistic elements and the legends about William Wallace to make Braveheart more cinematically compelling. Furthermore, Gibson has dissociated himself from Scottish nationalists using the film to campaign for separation from England.

Gibson was called anti-English following the release of The Patriot in 2000, despite neither directing or writing the script for the film. The American Revolutionary character played by Gibson (loosely inspired by four people) waged a private war against a villainous British officer based on Colonel Banastre Tarleton.

According to unauthorised biographer and vocal Gibson critic Wensley Clarkson, Mel Gibson was raised in an openly anti-British atmosphere by his Irish-American parents. Clarkson cites alleged family stories saying that several of Gibson's maternal relations (possibly including his grandmother) were raped by the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence. Clarkson further accuses Gibson of deliberately standing up the British Royal Family at the London premiere of Hamlet. However, Gibson had also missed the New York premiere of Hamlet to attend the funeral of his mother in Australia.

Gibson has, however, played British characters several times in his career, playing Fletcher Christian in The Bounty, and voicing John Smith, in Disney's Pocahontas, and narrating the novel My Cousin Rachel. He has enjoyed cordial working relations with British people during the making of several films, including The Bounty, Lethal Weapon 2, Conspiracy Theory and Chicken Run.

While promoting The Patriot, Gibson told reporters, "I'm actually an Anglophile. I like the Brits, you know?" The fact that he keeps battling the British onscreen is "an unhappy accident, really. I'll have to remedy the situation someday."

Gibson has also publicly supported keeping QueenElizabeth II of England as the Australian head of state.

Allegations of anti-Semitism

Gibson has been accused of anti-Semitism on two occasions:

The Passion of the Christ

Main article: The Passion of the Christ

His 2004 film The Passion of the Christ was criticized for alleged anti-Semitic imagery and overtones. Gibson denied that the film was anti-Semitic, but critics remained divided. Some argued that the film was consistent with a strict interpretation of the Gospels and traditional Catholic teachings, while others claimed that it reflected a selective reading of the Gospels and failed to comply with recommendations for dramatization of the Passion issued by the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the USCCB in 1988.

DUI Arrest

Main article: Mel Gibson DUI incident

On July 28, 2006, Gibson was arrested in California for speeding and on suspicion of drunk driving (DUI) on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway. According to a leaked arrest report, he was abusive to the Jewish arresting officer and remarked, "Fucking Jews... Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world", asking, “Are you a Jew?” He later issued, through his publicist, two apologies for the incident. In his second statement, he denied being an anti-Semite and apologized specifically to the Jewish community. Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman issued a statement accepting Gibson's apology and expressing a willingness to help in Gibson's rehabilitation.

Apocalypto

Gibson engaged in an angry confrontation with Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies, during a Q & A session that followed a screening of his film Apocalypto to film students at Cal State University at Northridge, California on March 22, 2007.

Estrada began by calling Gibson “racist,” “ignorant,” and saying, "It's a racist film, and I demand an apology." Gibson replied that he was insulted by this accusation. Estrada handed the microphone to her friend KPFK radio host Felipe Perez who began reading a lengthy statement in Spanish. The organizers eventually said, “ask a question or leave” and cut off the microphone, but Gibson said he should be allowed to continue. Estrada took back the mic and began to translate the prepared statement. After officials realized that she was not going to ask a question, they called security to escort her out. Estrada then asked Gibson if he was aware of certain scholars, and Gibson replied that he knew them well, and he detailed his research for the film. Although Estrada said that Gibson used profanity in his response, CSUN spokesman John Chandler disagreed: ``He didn't respond with a profanity. He responded by answering the question." After Estrada's microphone was turned off, Gibson said, "No, let her talk. Please." Estrada became angry that she was being “silenced,” and Gibson responded, "I'm listening to you! I can still hear you!" As Estrada and Perez were being escorted out, the audience applauded, and Gibson shouted a parting shot: “Lady, fuck off! Make your own movie!” Later in the Q&A session, Gibson expressed regret at the incident” and the evening ended with a standing ovation for the filmmaker.

Soon afterwards, student newspaper photographer Khristian Garay sold his photographs to the paparazzi, resulting in a story at TMZ. Gibson's publicist told journalists, "This was just a reaction to someone being disruptive and rude. He went on and completed the session and said it was successful. It's unfortunate it was tarnished with a momentary confrontation." Estrada defended herself, saying, "In no way was my question aggressive in the way that he responded to it. These are questions that my peers, my colleagues, ask me every time I make a presentation. These are questions I pose to my students in the classroom." Estrada furthermore demanded an apology, "not only to me but to the Central American program at CSUN, to the university and most importantly to the Mayan people and Mayan community." University spokesman John Chandler commented, "The students were very appreciative of Mr. Gibson being there. He spent a lot of time answering questions about moviemaking."

Prankster

Mel Gibson is known for his sense of humor on the set of his movies. He has a reputation for practical jokes, puns, Stooge-inspired physical comedy, and doing outrageous things to shock people. Gibson is fond of drawing caricatures and hiring high school marching bands to pay tribute to his coworkers. As a director he sometimes breaks the tension on set by having his actors perform serious scenes wearing a red clown nose. Helena Bonham Carter, who appeared alongside him in Hamlet, said of him, "He has a very basic sense of humor. It's a bit lavatorial and not very sophisticated." On the set of Maverick Gibson played a joke on costar Jodie Foster’s birthday by secretly rewriting the script to give her character all corny dialogue. Foster returned the favor by hiring a bagpiper in full Scottish regalia to follow Mel around at the Vanity Fair Oscar party after he won for Braveheart. On the set of Ransom, Gibson presented Ron Howard and Brian Grazer with a mock Braveheart For Your Consideration ad when both Braveheart and Apollo 13 were nominated for Best Picture. The ad was for “Best Moon Shot,” and featured a picture of Braveheart’s Scottish army mooning the English. While filming Conspiracy Theory, he and co-star Julia Roberts played a series of pranks on each other, beginning with Gibson welcoming Roberts to the set with a gift-wrapped freeze-dried rat. In addition to inserting several homages to the Three Stooges in his Lethal Weapon movies, Gibson produced a television movie on the comedy group in 2000. As a gag, Gibson inserted a single subliminal frame of himself smoking a cigarette into the 2005 teaser trailer of Apocalypto.

Alcohol abuse

Mel Gibson has said that he started drinking at the age of thirteen. According to Gibson biographer Wensley Clarkson, Gibson's repeated attempts to stop drinking have led to relapses whenever his stress level increased. A feature article on Gibson published on the DailyCatholic website March 17 2004, described as having been written four years previously and before The Passion of The Christ, states,

"He has made it known that from an early age he suffered from being manic depressive, but through his strong faith and appropriate medicines he has been able to overcome these shortcomings to attain the heights of stardom."

In 1984, Gibson was arrested in Toronto for driving with a blood alcohol level between 0.12%-0.13% after he rear-ended a car. According to Clarkson, when the other driver exited his vehicle and began shouting profanity at him, Mel Gibson laughed and offered him a drink. Gibson plead guilty and was fined $300 and banned from driving in Ontario for 3 months. In court he apologized to the Toronto community and thanked the police.

In 1985, Gibson retreated to his Australian farm for over a year to recover, but he continued to struggle with drinking. In a 2004 Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson admitted at one point to drinking five pints of beer before work. Gibson said in 2003 that his despair in his mid-thirties led him to contemplate suicide, and he meditated on Christ’s Passion to heal his wounds. 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."

Main article: Mel Gibson DUI incident

On July 28, 2006, Gibson was arrested for DUI while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol. He admitted to making anti-Semitic remarks during his arrest and apologized for his "despicable" behavior, saying the comments were "blurted out in a moment of insanity" and asked to meet with Jewish leaders to help him "discern the appropriate path for healing." When pressed for what his thoughts were at the time in a later interview with Diane Sawyer, he cited the vitriolic attacks on his film The Passion of the Christ and Israel-Lebanon conflict. After Gibson’s arrest, his publicist said he had entered a recovery program to battle alcoholism. On August 17, 2006, Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge and was sentenced to three years on probation. Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira ordered him 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, was fined $1,300, and his license was restricted for 90 days. He also volunteered to record a public service announcement.

In a October 12, 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson spoke on his struggle to remain sober.

"The risk of everything -- life, limb, family -- is not enough to keep you from it… You cannot do it of yourself. And people can help, yeah. But it's God. You've got to go there. You've got to do it. Or you won't survive…This whole experience in a way, for me, I'm sort of viewing it now as a kind of a blessing because, firstly, I got stopped before I did any real damage to anyone else. Thank God for that. I didn't hurt myself, you know. I didn't leave my kids fatherless…The other thing is sometimes you need a cold bucket of water in the face to sort of snap to because you're dealing with a sort of a malady of the soul, an obsession of the mind and a physical allergy. And some people need a big tap on the shoulder. In my case, public humiliation on a global scale seems to be what was required."

At a May 2007 progress hearing, Judge Mira praised Gibson for complying with the terms of his probation, saying,

"I know his extensive participation in a self-help program - and I should note he has done extensive work, beyond which was required."

Philanthropy

Although the Gibsons have avoided publicity over their philanthropy, they are believed to spend much money on various charities. One known charity is Healing the Children. According to Cris Embleton, one of the founders, the Gibsons have given millions to provide lifesaving medical treatment to needy children worldwide. The Gibsons have also supported the arts, funding the restoration of Renaissance artwork and giving millions of dollars to NIDA.

While filming the movie Apocalypto in the jungles of Mexico's Veracruz state, Mel Gibson donated one million dollars to the Rotary Club () to build houses for poor people in the region after some severe flooding wiped out many homes, stating:

"[T]hey had a lot of floods down there. It was like Louisiana down there in the southern regions. They had severe flooding and something like a million people were displaced and washed out. I've always been of the opinion that if you go into someone else's country to make a film you don't just go in there and stomp all over the place. You bring a gift. It's like going to somebody's house. You bring them a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates and it's the same sort of thing on a big scale when you're going in to somebody's country and they are going to help you make your film. You help them first somehow or you give them a gift or you help in what way you can. So we sort of assisted with the flood relief stuff down there."

Gibson has a reputation for discreetly assisting members of the entertainment community with substance abuse problems. He worked behind the scenes to get Robert Downey, Jr. some help at Corcoran State Prison. Hole rocker Courtney Love praised Mel Gibson for saving her from a drug relapse after the Hollywood actor helped force her into rehab. Gibson sought to help the musician at a hotel in Los Angeles when he heard she was using drugs again. Love later recalled,

"I kept slamming the door in (Gibson's) face. There were two drug people with me who wouldn't leave, so they couldn't get me to rehab. But because of Mel, two drug people ran off to have a cheeseburger with him because he's Mel, and then Warren [Boyd] (her drug minder) could get me into rehab."

Gibson has 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." In July 2007, Gibson again visited Central America to make arrangements for donations to the indigenous population. Gibson met with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to discuss how to "channel the funds." 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. While on a business trip to Singapore in September 2007, Gibson donated to a local charity for children with suffering from chronic and terminal illnesses.

Quotations

• "I've been goofing off all my life. I thought might as well get paid for that." — explanation for why he wanted to be an actor at his 1975 NIDA audition.

• "[In Hollywood] you have to realize you're working in a factory and you're part of the mechanism. If you break down, you'll be replaced, and there should never be any offense taken at people's attitudes." — Los Angeles Times, May 6 1990

• "I am politically incorrect, that's true. Political correctness to me is just intellectual terrorism. I find that really scary, and I won't be intimidated into changing my mind. Everyone isn't going to love you all the time." — 1996 interview with Roald Rynning

Satire

Gibson has been parodied by popular culture, even joining in some of the satire himself.

When hosting SNL in 1989, Gibson used his monologue to mock his occupation of “movie star” as “high reward, low effort.”

In 1999, Gibson, satirized his persona as an action hero during a guest appearance on The Simpsons episode titled Beyond Blunderdome. During the episode, Gibson complains that his remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is "missing something." When assured that nothing is wrong with it, he frets, "But I don't shoot anybody!"

Awards and accomplishments

• Australian Film Institute: Best Actor in a Lead Role, Tim (1979)
• Australian Film Institute: Best Actor in a Lead Role, Gallipoli (1981)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (1991)
• MTV Movie Awards: Best Action Sequence, Lethal Weapon 3 (1993)
• MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Duo, Lethal Weapon 3 (1993) - shared with Danny Glover
• ShoWest Award: Male Star of the Year (1993)
• National Board of Review: Special Achievement in Filmmaking, Braveheart (1995)
• American Cinematheque Gala Tribute: American Cinematheque Award (1995)
• ShoWest Award: Director of the Year (1996)
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Best Director, Braveheart (1996)
• Golden Globe Awards: Best Director, Braveheart (1996)
• Academy Awards: Best Director, Braveheart (1996)
• Academy Awards: Best Picture, Braveheart (1996)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (1997)
• Hasty Pudding Theatricals: Man of the Year (1997)
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actor - Suspense, Ransom (1997)
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actor - Suspense, Conspiracy Theory (1998)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Drama (2001)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (2001)
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actor - Drama, The Patriot (2001)
• Australian Film Institute: Global Achievement Award (2002)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (2003)
• Honorary Doctorate Recipient and Undergraduate Commencement Speaker, Loyola Marymount University (2003)
• People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (2004)
• Named as the world's most powerful celebrity by US business magazine Forbes (2004)

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Published sources

• McCarty, John (2001). The Films Of Mel Gibson. Citadel. ISBN 0806522267. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Clarkson, Wensley (2004). Mel Gibson, Man on a Mission. John Blake. ISBN 1-85782-537-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Mel Gibson at IMDb
• Time Magazine: Apocalpto Now
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• Roles turned down by Mel Gibson