Mel Gibson

At 68 years old, Mel Gibson has this physical status:

Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American-Australian actor and filmmaker.

He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocalyptic action series Mad Max and as Martin Riggs in the buddy cop film series Lethal Weapon. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia, when he was 12 years old.

He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, where he starred opposite Judy Davis in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

During the 1980s, he founded Icon Entertainment, a production company, which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called "an alternative to the studio system".

Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute, as well as a reputation as a serious, versatile actor. In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in Braveheart, a historical epic, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Director, and the Academy Award for Best Picture.

He later directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a biblical drama that was both financially successful and highly controversial.

He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto (2006), which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. After several legal issues and controversial statements leaked to the public, Gibson's public image plummeted significantly, affecting his careers in acting and directing.

His career began seeing resurgence with his performance in Jodie Foster's The Beaver (2011), and his directorial comeback after an absence of 10 years, Hacksaw Ridge (2016), which won two Academy Awards 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). Gibson's paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia, to Irish parents, while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the American South. 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. His second name, Colmcille, is also shared with an Irish saint. Because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship. Gibson is also an Australian permanent resident.

Gibson's father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against the New York Central Railroad on February 14, 1968, and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney, Australia. 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.

During his high school years, Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales.

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Career

When Gibson first stepped into the cinematic scene, he received overwhelmingly positive reviews from film critics, as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars. "Mr. Gibson recalls the youth Steve McQueen," Vincent Canby wrote in 1982. I can't comment on'star quality,' but Mr. Gibson has it,' so whatever it is.' Gibson has also been compared to "a blend Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart." Gibson's appearances in the Mad Max film series, Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), and the Lethal Weapon series of films earned him the reputation of "action hero." Gibson developed to a number of acting roles, including human dramas like the Franco Zeffirelli film version of Hamlet (1990) and Comedian (1994) and What Women Want (2000). With: The Man Without a Face (1993), Braveheart (1995), The Passion of the Christ (2004), and Apocalypto (2006), he went beyond acting to producing and directing. Jess Cagle of Time compared Gibson to Cary Grant, Sean Connery, and Robert Redford. Connery once suggested that Gibson should appear on Connery's "M" as the next James Bond. Gibson reportedly turned down the part due to his fear of being typecast.

Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. In Romeo and Juliet, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads, while Gibson and actor John Davis played Queen Titania, and A Midsummer Night's Dream appeared as a student. After graduating in 1977, Gibson immediately began work on Mad Max's filming, but later on, he began acting as a stage actor, and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide. Gibson's theatrical credits include the role of Estragon (opposite Geoffrey Rush) in Waiting for Godot, as well as the role of Biff Loman in a 1982 production of Death of a Salesman in Sydney. Gibson's most recent theatrical appearance, opposite Sissy Spacek, was the 1993 film of Love Letters by A. R. Gurney in Telluride, Colorado.

Gibson made his film debut in the 1977 film Summer City, for which he was paid $400. Gibson also appeared in Mad Max (1979), as the title character. He was paid $15,000 to do this job. He spent a season with the South Australian Theatre Company right after filming the film. Robyn and his future wife Annette shared a $30 a week apartment in Adelaide during this time. In the film Tim, Mad Max, Gibson played a physically slow youth (also 1979). Gibson appeared in Australian television series guest stars during this time. In the pilot episode of prison serial Punishment (1980, 1981), he appeared in serial The Sullivans as naval lieutenant Ray Henderson, in police procedural Cop Shop and as a naval lieutenant.

Gibson was cast member of the World War II action film Attack Force Z, which wasn't announced until 1982, when Gibson was becoming a bigger celebrity. Gibson was played by Peter Weir in the World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson another Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute. Gallipoli has also helped Gibson build his image as a leading, versatile actor, as well as winning him the Hollywood agent Ed Limato. Mad Max 2 (1982), his first hit in America, where it was named The Road Warrior. Gibson has received praise for his part in Peter Weir's romantic thriller The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Gibson took on the role of Fletcher Christian in The Bounty (1984), after a one-year absence from film acting after the birth of his twin sons. In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Gibson received his first million dollar salary for playing Max Rockatansky for the third time.

In which Mark Rydell's drama The River (1984), he and Sissy Spacek played struggling Tennessee farmers, Gibson's first American film was The River (1984). Gibson appeared in Mrs. Soffel (also 1984) for Australian director Gillian Armstrong. As the warden's wife, who visits them to read the Bible, Matthew Modine denounced convict brothers. Gibson took almost two years off at his Australian cattle station in 1985 after being on four films in a row. He reprised his role as Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon (1987), a film that helped to solidify his place as a Hollywood "leading man." Tequila Sunrise (1988), Robert Towne's (1988), followed by Lethal Weapon 2 (1989). Gibson came to a conclusion in three films back-to-back: Bird on a Wire, Air America, and Hamlet.

Gibson alternated between commercial and personal projects during the 1990s. Forever Young, Lethal Weapon 3, Maverick, and Braveheart were among his first films in the first half of the decade. He appeared in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4 and Payback. In Disney's Pocahontas, Gibson was also the speaking and singing voice of John Smith.

Gibson was paid a record $25 million to appear in The Patriot (2000), a record-breaking feat. Chicken Run and What Women Want, two other films he appeared in in that year, grossed over $100 million, as did two other films he directed in the same year. Gibson appeared in We Were Soldiers and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, the Vietnam War drama that made Gibson's acting debut, as well as the highest-grossing film of his career. Gibson said he no longer wanted to be a movie actor and would only appear in film again if the script were truly extraordinary while advertising Signs. Gibson appeared in Edge of Shadow, his first starring role since 2002, as an extension of the BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness. Gibson was fired from William Morris Endeavor's recruitment firm in 2010 after an outburst at his ex-girlfriend that was made public.

In The Expendables 3 opposite Sylvester Stallone in 2014, Gibson played two villains: Luther Voz in Machete Kills in 2013 alongside Danny Trejo and Conrad Stonebanks.

Gibson appeared in the lead role of director S. Craig Zahler's Dragged Across Concrete, which was released in 2018. He appeared in The Professor and the Madman before being disapproved of the film by the director and the producer.

Gibson began to produce and direct after his success with the Lethal Weapon film in Hollywood. Gibson formed Icon Productions in 1989 to make Hamlet with partner Bruce Davey. Icon has produced or co-produced many of Gibson's own film titles, ranging from Immortal Beloved to An Ideal Husband. Gibson has appeared in several of these films, including The Million Dollar Hotel and The Singing Detective, as a supporter. Gibson has also produced a number of television shows, including a biopic of the Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier. Icon has expanded from being merely a production company to becoming an international distribution firm and film exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand.

Gibson was filming scenes for the film How I Spent My Summer Vacation, about a career criminal being detained in a tough jail in Mexico in June 2010. Gibson was expected to appear briefly in The Hangover Part II in October 2010, but he was forced to leave the film after the cast and crew protested his participation.

Gibson has credited his producers, particularly George Miller, Peter Weir and Richard Donner, with teaching him the art of filmmaking and making him feel as a producer. Gibson was encouraged by studio executives in 1989 to try directing, which was a proposal he rejected at the time. Gibson made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without a Face, and two years later, Braveheart, which earned Gibson the Academy Award for Best Director. Gibson had long intended to produce a Fahrenheit 451 revival, but the project was postponed indefinitely due to scheduling conflicts. Gibson had intended to direct Robert Downey Jr. in a Los Angeles stage production of Hamlet in January 2001, but Downey's drug relapse ended the project. Gibson said in 2002, when promoting We Were Soldiers and Signs to the public, he was considering reducing acting and returning to directing. Gibson revealed in September 2002 that he would direct The Passion in Aramaic and Latin because he wanted to "transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling." He co-wrote, co-produced, and directed the controversial film Passion of the Christ, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and directed in 2004. With $370,782,930 in US box office revenues, the film went on to become the highest-grossing rated R film at the time. Gibson narrated a few episodes of Complete Savages for ABC's The ABC network has a few episodes of Complete Savages. In 2006, he produced Apocalypto, his second film to feature sparse dialogue in a non-English language. Gibson was dubbed "the pre-eminent religious filmmaker in the United States" by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz in November 2016.

Gibson occasionally deftains the drama on stage by having his actors perform serious scenes sporting a red clown nose. "He has a very basic sense of humor," Helena Bonham Carter, who appeared alongside him in Hamlet. It's a bit lavatorial and not very sophisticated." Gibson would relieve tension on the set by mooning the cast and crew directly after a serious scene during the shooting of Hamlet. Gibson inserted a single frame of himself smoking a cigarette into the 2005 teaser trailer of Apocalypto.

Gibson has stated that he wants to direct a film set during the Viking Age, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He wants this speculative film to have dialogue in period languages, similar to The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. However, DiCaprio did not opt out of the scheme. Gibson revealed in a 2012 interview that the campaign, which he has dubbed Berserker, is still underway.

Gibson had ordered a screenplay about the Maccabees from Joe Eszterhas in 2011. Warner Brothers Pictures is releasing the film. The news sparked a lot of controversies. Eszterhas wrote a letter to Gibson accusing him of sabotaging their film about the Maccabees because he "hates Jews," and he cited a string of personal events during which he reportedly heard Gibson express extreme racial views. It was originally published on a private letter but was later released on a film company website, despite being written as a private letter. Gibson said in response that he intends to make the film but not base it on Eszterhas' script, which he called substandard. Eszterhas later said that his son had secretly caught a string of Gibson's ostensible rants. Gibson said in a 2012 interview that the Maccabees film was still in production. He attributed the uprising to the Biblical account due to its resemblance to the American Old West genre.

Gibson revealed in June 2016 that he would reunite with Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace to write a sequel to The Passion of the Christ, focusing on Jesus' resurrection. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in early November 2016, Gibson revealed that the sequel's name would be The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection. The initiative may also be three years off" if "it's a big topic," he said.

Gibson would produce Destroyer, a WWII film, in May 2018. In the Pacific Theater, the Destroyer, which is similar to Hacksaw Ridge, will also deal with the Battle of Okinawa, but from a different front. It would be based on the heroic tale of the crew of USS Laffey (DD-724), who defended their ship from the 22 kamikaze attacks.

Gibson's cancelled projects included a Richard Donner-helmed film with the working title Sam and George as of 2019.

Gibson has announced that he will direct and also perform in a Lethal Weapon 5 following Richard Donner's death.

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