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Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an Academy Award winning actor, American director, and producer. After establishing himself as a household name with the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in 1993's The Man Without a Face and 1995's Academy Award-winning Braveheart. In 2004, he directed and produced the controversial blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ. Gibson's direction of Braveheart made him only the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to garner an Oscar for Best Director. He was also the first person ever awarded People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive".

Early life

Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of ten children born to Hutton Gibson and Anne Reilly Gibson. The family also adopted a child, bringing the total number of children in the family to eleven. 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 containing most of his mother's native county, while his second name, Columcille is also linked to an Irish saint. Columcille is the name of the parish in County Longford where Anne Reilly was born and raised.

Although Gibson always maintained his United States citizenship, he lived in Australia after a victory on the TV game show Jeopardy! by Gibson's father. The family moved in 1968 when Gibson was 12. This move was in protest of the Vietnam War for which Gibson's elder brothers risked being drafted. It is also because Gibson's father believed that changes in American society were immoral. Early Gibson films feature a distinct, noticeable Australian accent.

Film career

Gibson graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 1977, and his acting career began in Australia with appearances in television series, including The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Punishment.

He made his Australian film debut as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max, which later became a cult hit and launched two sequels. His international profile increased through Peter Weir's Gallipoli. Gibson's boyish good looks made him a natural for leading male roles.

In 1984, he made his U.S. film debut as Fletcher Christian in The Bounty. Reportedly, Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, his costar on the film, 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 Lethal Weapon series, in which he starred as LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, an emotionally unstable Vietnam veteran with a death wish and a penchant for violence and gunplay. In the films, he was partnered with the elder and more reserved Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover). This series would come to exemplify the action genre's so-called buddy film.

Despite having been trained in two different schools of acting (Gibson is classically trained and Glover is a method actor), the two shared good chemistry. The film was a major hit and spawned three sequels.

Hamlet

Main article: Hamlet

Gibson then made the unusual transition from the action to classical genres, playing the melancholy 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."

Over the course of the shoot in the Scottish Highlands, Gibson was advised that he would do better with the lines if he were able to control his breathing. A longtime chain smoker, Gibson switched to nicotine gum to moderate his smoking for parts of the shoot.

The film met with critical and marketing success and remains a steady in DVD sales. It also marked the transformation of Mel Gibson from action hero to serious actor and filmmaker. Later in his career, he complemented his dramatic performances with comedic roles in Maverick and What Women Want.

Braveheart

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

Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his 1995 direction of Braveheart. In the movie, Gibson starred as Sir William Wallace, a thirteenth-century Scottish freedom fighter.

He said in interviews that he was attempting to make a film similar to the 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 Ireland, where members of the Irish Army Reserve used as extras for the battle scenes.

The Passion of the Christ

Gibson co-wrote, produced and directed the controversial The Passion of the Christ. The 2004 film was based on the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus, rendered multilingually in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. The film was released through Gibson's Icon Productions.

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 antisemitism.

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 revelations that Mel Gibson's father Hutton Gibson is a vocal Holocaust revisionist who believes much of the Holocaust is "fiction".

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:

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.

The movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the US alone. It became the eighth highest-grossing film in history and the highest-grossing rated R film of all time. The ticket sales were boosted by the film attracting viewers who generally do not attend theaters, including entire church congregations. 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

Gibson's next historical epic, Apocalypto, will be released to theaters in December 2006. The film is set 600 years ago in Mesoamerica, before the Spanish conquest. It focuses on the decline of the Maya civilization. Dialogue is spoken in the Yucatec Maya language, in the same way Gibson used Aramaic and Latin for his The Passion of the Christ. It will feature a cast of unknown actors from Mexico City, the Yucatán, and some Native Americans from the United States.

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

All that has been revealed about the plot is that the film is set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. When a Mayan man's idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

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.

On a side note, Hector Carreon reports that Gibson built houses for the poor in Mexico's Veracruz state, where Apocalypto was filmed. Disney insists that Apocalypto will be released as scheduled.

Family

On June 7, 1980, Gibson married nurse Robyn Moore, whom he met through a dating service. They have seven children, one daughter and six sons: Hannah (born 1980), twins Edward and Christian (born 1982), Willie (born 1985), Louis (born 1988), Milo (born 1990), and Tommy (born 1999).

Although Gibson is Roman Catholic and his wife is Anglican, he has never disapproved of her beliefs, saying that "true love knows no boundaries." He has also called her his "Rock of Gibraltar, only prettier." But he also holds to the Catholic doctrine of "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus", if only grudgingly. When asked how this doctrine would affect his wife he said: “There is no salvation for those outside the Church, (and) I believe it. My wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly. ... 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.”

Personal and political views

Religion and God

Many of Gibson's positions are in accordance with traditionalist Catholicism. In 2004, he publicly condemned 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. He is a proponent of the death penalty, which the traditional doctrine of the Catholic Church allows for under specific circumstances, but which post-Vatican II Popes have said is rarely justifiable in modern society.

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 Ghost was making the film through him, "I was just directing traffic".

Politics

While having never identified himself as being a conservative Republican, Gibson has been referred to as one in The Washington Times, and WorldNetDaily once reported that there was grassroots support among Republicans for "a presidential run.".

Gibson praised the liberal director Michael Moore and his documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11. Gibson's Icon Productions originally agreed to back Moore's film, but abruptly sold the rights to Miramax Films. Moore has claimed that "top Republicans" intimidated Mel Gibson into relinquishing the film.

In 2006 Gibson told a UK film magazine that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."<ref>[http:/

1. 1995 Academy Awards
2. Michael Dwyer, The Irish Times film critic, interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1's This week programme, 6 August 2006.
3. Ebert, Roger (2004-02-24). "Movie Reviews: The Passion of the Christ". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2006-08-02. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
4. Scott, A. O. (2004-02-25). "FILM REVIEW; Good and Evil Locked In Violent Showdown". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-08-05. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
5. The Passion of Mel Gibson
6. Giambalvo, Corrado (February 20 2004). "Gibson's father: Holocaust was mostly 'fiction'". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. The Jesus War: Mel Gibson’s obsession.
8. The Jesus War
9. 'Passion'-ate defense gives offense
10. A passionate Mel Gibson strikes back against critics
11. Churches rent out entire theaters for 'Passion'
12. Daily Muslims, August 2, 2006
13. Mel Gibson says his wife could be going to hell
14. It's Modern Crucifixion
15. Respect For Human Life
16. ^ Gibson's way with words; USA Today August 1, 2006; accessed August 3. 2006.
17. Mel Gibson Pushed for President
18. Moore, Gibson: I Love His Work
19. Not so hot: Fahrenheit 9/11 is more smoke than fire