118 Facts About Mel Gibson

1.

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on January 3,1956 and is an American actor and film director.

2.

Mel Gibson 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 action-comedy film series Lethal Weapon.

3.

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

4.

In 1995, Mel 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.

5.

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

6.

Mel Gibson received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto, which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century.

7.

Mel Gibson's career began seeing a resurgence with his performance in Edge of Darkness and Jodie Foster's The Beaver.

8.

Mel Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, of Irish descent, the sixth of 11 children, and the second son of Hutton Mel Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia.

9.

Mel Gibson's paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott, who was born in Australia, to Irish parents, while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Mel Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the American South.

10.

Mel 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.

11.

Mel Gibson gained very favorable notices from film critics when he first entered the cinematic scene, as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars.

12.

Later, Mel Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as the Franco Zeffirelli film version of Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want.

13.

Mel Gibson expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, with: The Man Without a Face, Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto.

14.

Mel Gibson turned down the role, reportedly because he feared being typecast.

15.

Mel Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

16.

Mel Gibson then played the title character in the film Mad Max.

17.

Mel Gibson appeared in serial The Sullivans as naval lieutenant Ray Henderson, in police procedural Cop Shop, and in the pilot episode of prison serial Punishment which was produced in 1980, screened 1981.

18.

Mel Gibson joined the cast of the World War II action film Attack Force Z, which was not released until 1982 when Mel Gibson had become a bigger star.

19.

Mel Gibson again received positive notices for his role in Peter Weir's romantic thriller The Year of Living Dangerously.

20.

Mel Gibson earned his first million dollar salary for playing Max Rockatansky for the third time, in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

21.

Mel Gibson then starred in the Gothic romance Mrs Soffel for Australian director Gillian Armstrong.

22.

In 1985, after working on four films in a row, Mel Gibson took almost two years off at his Australian cattle station.

23.

Mel Gibson returned to play the role of Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon, a film which helped to cement his status as a Hollywood "leading man".

24.

Mel Gibson next starred in three films back-to-back, all released in 1990: Bird on a Wire, Air America, and Hamlet.

25.

Mel Gibson then starred in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4, and Payback.

26.

Mel Gibson served as the speaking and singing voice of John Smith in Disney's Pocahontas.

27.

Mel Gibson was paid a record salary of $25 million to appear in The Patriot.

28.

In 2002, Gibson appeared in the Vietnam War drama We Were Soldiers and M Night Shyamalan's Signs, which became the highest-grossing film of Gibson's acting career.

29.

In 2010, Mel Gibson appeared in Edge of Darkness, which marked his first starring role since 2002 and was an adaptation of the BBC miniseries, Edge of Darkness.

30.

In 2010, following an outburst at his ex-girlfriend that was made public, Mel Gibson was dropped from the talent agency of William Morris Endeavor.

31.

In October 2010, it was reported that Mel Gibson would have a small role in The Hangover Part II, but he was removed from the film after the cast and crew objected to his involvement.

32.

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

33.

Mel Gibson has taken supporting roles in some of these films, such as The Million Dollar Hotel and The Singing Detective.

34.

Mel Gibson has produced a number of projects for television, including a biopic on the Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier.

35.

Mel Gibson made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without a Face, followed two years later by Braveheart, which earned Mel Gibson the Academy Award for Best Director.

36.

Mel Gibson had long planned to direct a remake of Fahrenheit 451, but in 1999 the project was indefinitely postponed because of scheduling conflicts.

37.

In 2002, while promoting We Were Soldiers and Signs to the press, Mel Gibson mentioned that he was planning to pare back on acting and return to directing.

38.

Mel Gibson directed a few episodes of Complete Savages for the ABC network.

39.

Mel Gibson has expressed an intention to direct a movie set during the Viking Age, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

40.

In 2011, it was announced that Mel Gibson had commissioned a screenplay from Joe Eszterhas about the Maccabees.

41.

Eszterhas then claimed his son had secretly recorded a number of Mel Gibson's alleged "hateful rants".

42.

Mel Gibson explained that he was drawn to the Biblical account of the uprising due to its similarity to the American Old West genre.

43.

In June 2016, Mel 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.

44.

In early November 2016, Mel Gibson revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the sequel's title will be The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection.

45.

Mel Gibson stated that the project could "probably be three years off" because "it's a big subject".

46.

In May 2018, it was announced that Mel Gibson would be directing a WWII film titled Destroyer.

47.

In May 2019, Deadline reported that Mel Gibson was courting Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Dinklage to star in the project; that Jerry Bruckheimer will produce the film, and Warner Bros.

48.

Mel 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.

49.

Mel Gibson inserted a single frame of himself smoking a cigarette into the 2005 teaser trailer of Apocalypto.

50.

Mel Gibson's screen acting career began in 1976, with a role on the Australian television series The Sullivans.

51.

Mel Gibson's filmography includes television series, feature films, television films, and animated films.

52.

Mel Gibson got his breakthrough role as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max.

53.

Mel Gibson had Mark Lee, the angelic-looking, ideal Australian kid, and he wanted something of a modern sensibility.

54.

Mel Gibson thought the audience needed someone to relate to of their own time.

55.

Mel Gibson won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the Australian Film Institute.

56.

Mel Gibson played a naive 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.

57.

Mel Gibson possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence.

58.

Mel Gibson was initially reluctant to accept the role of Guy Hamilton.

59.

Mel 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.

60.

However, Mel Gibson has expressed a belief that the film's revisionism did not go far enough.

61.

Mel Gibson has stated that his character should have been portrayed as the film's antagonist.

62.

Mel Gibson has further praised Anthony Hopkins's performance as Lieutenant William Bligh as the best aspect of the film.

63.

Mel Gibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular action comedy film series Lethal Weapon, which began with the 1987 original.

64.

On November 15,2021, Mel Gibson confirmed that he will direct the fifth Lethal Weapon film following the death of director Richard Donner.

65.

Mel Gibson was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it.

66.

Mel Gibson said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer.

67.

Mel Gibson made the unusual transition from action to classical drama, playing William Shakespeare's Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet.

68.

Mel Gibson was cast alongside experienced Shakespearean actors Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield.

69.

Mel Gibson compared working with Scofield to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".

70.

In 1995, Mel 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.

71.

Mel Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his second directorial effort.

72.

In winning the Academy Award for Best Director, Mel Gibson became only the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to do so.

73.

Mel Gibson asserted that the reason that King Edward I kills his son's lover is because the king is a "psychopath".

74.

Mel Gibson expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers laughed at this murder:.

75.

Mel Gibson directed, produced, co-wrote, and funded the film The Passion of the Christ, which chronicled the passion and death of Jesus.

76.

Mel Gibson originally intended to release the film without subtitles, but eventually relented for theatrical exhibition.

77.

Mel Gibson received further critical acclaim for his directing of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto.

78.

Mel 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.

79.

Mel Gibson starred in The Beaver, a domestic drama about a depressed alcoholic directed by former Maverick costar Jodie Foster.

80.

In 2014, Gibson signed on to direct Hacksaw Ridge, a World War II drama based on the true story of conscientious objector Desmond T Doss, played by Andrew Garfield.

81.

Mel Gibson met Robyn Denise Moore in the late 1970s, soon after filming Mad Max, in Adelaide, South Australia.

82.

At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel Gibson was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company.

83.

Robyn Mel Gibson filed for divorce on April 13,2009, citing irreconcilable differences.

84.

Mel Gibson has a really good grasp of language, he's fantastic with words.

85.

On June 21,2010, Grigorieva filed a restraining order against Mel Gibson to keep him away from her and their child.

86.

Mel Gibson obtained a restraining order against Grigorieva on June 25,2010.

87.

In March 2011, Mel Gibson agreed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.

88.

Mel 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.

89.

Mel Gibson stated it was his intention to retain the pristine environment of the undeveloped island.

90.

Records of Mel 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.

91.

In July 2007, Mel Gibson again visited Central America to make arrangements for donations to the indigenous population.

92.

Mel Gibson met with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to discuss how to "channel the funds".

93.

Mel Gibson is a supporter of Angels at Risk, a nonprofit organization focusing on education about drug and alcohol abuse among teens.

94.

Mel Gibson was raised a sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic.

95.

Mel Gibson prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff.

96.

William Fulco said in 2009 that Mel Gibson denies neither the pope nor Vatican II; even so, as of 2021, Mel Gibson attended the Church of the Holy Family, a traditionalist church he founded and funds in Southern California.

97.

Mel Gibson has told Diane Sawyer that he believes non-Catholics and non-Christians can go to Heaven.

98.

Mel Gibson 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.

99.

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".

100.

Mel Gibson revealed in a 2016 interview with Jorge Ramos that he voted for neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.

101.

In July 2021, Mel Gibson was filmed saluting Trump while attending UFC 264, which went viral over the Internet.

102.

In October 2020, Mel Gibson released a statement regarding the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and expressing solidarity with the Armenian people.

103.

Mel Gibson has said that he started drinking at the age of 13.

104.

Mel 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.

105.

Mel Gibson retreated to his Australian farm for over a year to recover, but he continued to struggle with drinking.

106.

Mel Gibson took more time off acting in 1991 and sought professional help.

107.

That year, Mel Gibson's attorneys were unsuccessful at blocking the Sunday Mirror from publishing what Mel Gibson shared at AA meetings.

108.

Mel Gibson 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.

109.

Mel Gibson was ordered to attend a First Offenders Program and fined $1,300, and his license was restricted for 90 days.

110.

Mel Gibson later defended his comments and rejected calls to apologize even as he faced fresh accusations of homophobia in the wake of his film Braveheart.

111.

However, Mel 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.

112.

On July 28,2006, Mel Gibson was arrested by Sheriff's Deputy James Mee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for driving under the influence while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol.

113.

Grigorieva said the voices on the multiple recordings leaked were of herself and Mel Gibson, according to CNN.

114.

Mel Gibson was barred from coming near Grigorieva or their daughter due to a domestic violence-related restraining order.

115.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department launched a domestic violence investigation against Mel Gibson, later dropped when Mel Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.

116.

In 1985, Mel Gibson was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People, the first person to be named so.

117.

Mel 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.

118.

On July 25,1997, Mel Gibson was named an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, in recognition of his "service to the Australian film industry".