Mel Gibson

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an Academy Award–winning American born Australian reared actor, director and producer best known for acting in the Mad Max movie series, the Lethal Weapon series, acting in and directing the Academy Award–winning Braveheart and directing the 2004 blockbuster The Passion of the Christ. He spent much of his early life and career in Australia. In February of 1985, he was the first person ever to garner the title of "Sexiest Man Alive" from People magazine.

Overview

Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of ten children born to Hutton Gibson (whose parents were US businessman, John Hutton Gibson, and Irish-Australian opera singer Eva Mylott) and Anne Reilly Gibson (who was born in the parish of Columcille, County Longford, Ireland). 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. His unusual first name comes from a 5th-century Irish saint, Mel, who was the founder of the diocese of Ardagh, which contains most of his mother's native county.

Although Gibson always maintained his United States citizenship, he lived in Australia from the age of twelve. Following a victory on the TV game show Jeopardy!, Gibson's father moved his family to Australia in 1968 in protest of the Vietnam War for which his elder sons were potentially at risk for being drafted, and also because he believed that changes in American society were immoral. Early Gibson films feature a distinct, noticeable Australian accent.

Extremely devoted to his faith, Mel Gibson has donated money to finance the construction of an "Independent" Traditional Catholic chapel in Malibu, California, in which only the Latin Tridentine Mass is celebrated. Gibson claims to go to Catholic Mass everyday.

Gibson married Robyn Moore, whom he initially met through a dating service, on June 7, 1980, with whom he has the following children:

daughter, Hannah (born 1980)
twin sons, Edward and Christian (born 1982)
son, Willie (born 1985)
son, Louis (born 1988)
son, Milo (born 1990)
son, Tommy (born 1999)

Rumors that Hannah was going to become a nun were quashed by the family after initial mention in the media.

His wife remains an Anglican despite 26 years of marriage to Gibson. Gibson never disapproved of her religion, saying that "true love knows no boundaries". Gibson has not attempted to convert her, and maintains that she is "a saint" and a much better person than he, but also holds to his Catholic belief that there "is no salvation outside the Church" and, as such, believes the possibility that his wife could go to Hell.^*

Film career

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

He made his Australian movie debut as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max, which later became a cult hit and launched two of its own sequels. His international profile increased through Peter Weir's First World War film Gallipoli. Gibson's boyish good looks made him a natural for leading man roles. In 1984, he made his US movie debut, starring as Fletcher Christian in The Bounty. Actor Anthony Hopkins played Captain Bligh opposite Gibson.

In December 2005, it was announced that Gibson will produce a television movie about Dutch Holocaust survivor Flory Van Beek, although it had been rumoured previously that he would make a movie about the Maccabees.

Gibson's next film, Apocalypto, will be a mythic action-adventure set in the days of the Mayan civilization.

Lethal Weapon and Hamlet

Gibson moved to more mainstream filmmaking with the popular Lethal Weapon series, where he starred as a maverick and violent cop Martin Riggs in a buddy relationship with his older and more conservative partner played by Danny Glover. Gibson surprisingly moved to the classical genre, playing the melancholy Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's movie of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1990). Gibson has been equally successful as a comedic actor, in movies such as Maverick (1994) and What Women Want (2000).

Braveheart

In 1996, Gibson received two Academy Awards (Best Director and Best Picture) for Braveheart (1995), based on the life of Sir William Wallace, a thirteenth century Scottish knight who fought the English in the late 13th century and early 14th century. Gibson played Wallace.

The Passion of the Christ

Gibson co-wrote, produced and directed The Passion of the Christ (2004), a movie in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, recounting a description of the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus. The movie has received applause, including from Christian figures and a few politically conservative Jewish leaders and scholars (e.g., Michael Medved, David Horowitz, and Steven Waldman).

The movie has been criticised by some Christian and Jewish leaders and scholars, a majority of whom claimed that it may promote anti-Semitism, as it relies on imagery similar to that of folkish passion-plays, a mainstream rural Christian tradition that some activists believe to be capable of inciting anti-Semitic incidents. The movie has been criticised by a group of Protestant scholars for its adherence in a number of scenes and details to the visions of a 17th century mystic and nun, the Venerable Mary of Agreda and a 19th century German visionary, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, both Roman Catholics.

Gibson was asked if his movie would be offensive to Jews today; his response was:

It's not meant to. I think it's meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible.

He also stated on his decision to cut a scene in which Caiaphas says "his blood be on us and on our children" soon after Pontius Pilate washes his hands of Jesus:

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. ^*," target="_blank" >[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34497

In spite of the criticism (or perhaps helped by it), the movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide ($370,782,930 in the US alone) and 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 congregations from churches attending together. ^* The film was nominated for Best 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 into theaters in December of 2006. The film is set 600 years ago in Meso-America, before the Spanish conquest, during the decline of the Maya. 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 certain 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.

Accusations of homophobia

Some gay rights groups accused Gibson of homophobia, after a 1992 interview in the Spanish magazine El Pais. In the interview, when asked what he thought of gay people, he said, "They take it up the ass." Gibson then bent over and pointed to his buttocks, saying, "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 responded by saying, "Do I sound like a homosexual? Do I talk like them? Do I move like them?". Gibson later defended his comments on Good Morning America, saying, "I don't think there's an apology necessary, and I'm certainly not giving one. 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 January 1997, to make amends with the gay community and to show that he wasn't homophobic, Gibson hosted along with Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) ten lesbian and gay filmmakers for an on-location seminar on the set of the movie Conspiracy Theory. During the seminar Gibson provided up-and-coming lesbian and gay filmmakers with an up-close and personal look into the inner workings of a major Hollywood feature film. ^*

Other groups were later angry at the depiction of a homosexual character in Braveheart. Although historians agree that the character, the Prince (later King) Edward II of England, was indeed homosexual, and also agree with what was portrayed in the movie of the King being a mere puppet of Thomas of Lancaster (though Edward's father never threw his lover out of a window, as portrayed in the movie), historians dispute the portrayal of Edward as effeminate. It should also be noted that Gibson did not write the screenplay for that film. ^*^*

Gibson was accused of homophobia once more in his movies with his portrayal of Herod Antipas in The Passion of the Christ. Antipas is portrayed as an effeminate homosexual wearing makeup and having 'boy-toys'. Although this was a common caricature of Herod in medieval Passion plays, it does not appear in the Gospels and is contrary to the historical record regarding Antipas. ^*

Politics

Many of Gibson's positions are in accordance with traditional 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. He is, however, a proponent of the death penalty, which the Catholic Church's doctrine allows for under specific circumstances and a specific level of necessity, but which modern popes have said is rarely if ever justifiable in modern society due to such necessity almost never existing today.^* He is also a supporter of gun ownership. In 2004, he told an Australian celebrity magazine (later reported by MSNBC) that he thought that despite his wife's similar devoutness to Christianity, she would not receive salvation because she wasn't Catholic, but Anglican.

Mel Gibson has never identified himself as being a conservative Republican, but he has been perceived as such to the point that The Washington Times called him one. He joined many of his colleagues in the entertainment industry in opposition to the Iraq War and praised the liberal director Michael Moore and his documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, leading some to see him as a "real" (traditional) conservative in opposition to the neoconservative policies of the Bush administration and others to believing he leans toward a libertarian viewpoint. Gibson's Icon Productions was originally set to back Moore's film but mysteriously backed out. Moore claimed in 2004, "Productions got a call from top Republicans to tell Mel Gibson don’t expect to get more invitations to the White House." In 2006 Gibson told Hotdog Magazine, a UK film magazine, that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys." [http://www.pr-inside.com/gibson-inspired-by-fear-mongering-bush-r4937.htm Many fans have perceived The Patriot (2000), We Were Soldiers (2001) and The Passion of the Christ (2004) as conservative movies.

In a July 1995 interview with Playboy magazine, Gibson said President Bill Clinton was a "low-level opportunist" because someone was "telling him what to do." He said he thought Clinton and other politicians who had won Rhodes Scholarships were part of a "stealth" trend of Rhodes scholars becoming politicians who were striving for a "new world order." He said this was a form of Marxism and that "Karl had the right idea."Grobel, Lawrence, "Interview: Mel Gibson." Playboy. July 1995. Vol. 42, No. 7, Pg. 51. Retrieved May 17, 2006.Wright, Tony. "Dream candidate" Ninemsn's The Bulletin. October 15, 2003. Retrieved May 17, 2006. During the interview, Gibson also said the assassinations (or attempts) of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan may have been related to actions they took regarding the Federal Reserve; he said his father told him about this theory.Noxon, Christopher, "Is the Pope Catholic...Enough?." The New York Times. March 9, 2003. Retrieved May 17, 2006.

Trivia

In Gibson's early Australian television and film roles, he spoke in a heavy general Australian accent. His voice was even dubbed in the US release of Mad Max (along with the rest of the cast). In the early 1990s, he began to lose the accent after having lived in the United States for over a decade. In fact, even in 1987's Lethal Weapon his accent is only slightly discernible. He now speaks in an American accent.
Gibson was born with a physical anomaly called "Horseshoe kidney". His two kidneys are fused at the base into a U shape. This fusion anomaly occurs in about one of every 400 people.
In December 2004, Gibson purchased Mago Island 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.
He is a teetotaller.
Gibson has a one-frame cameo appearance in the teaser trailer of Apocalypto.
With his earnings from The Passion of the Christ, Gibson constructed a chapel on his California estate.
Torture is a constant theme in many of Mel Gibson's films, as seen in The Passion of The Christ, Braveheart, "Conspiracy Theory", Lethal Weapon, and Payback.
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 other men at a party, resulting in a swelled-up 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". Mel did come back, 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!
Gibson's height is 5'8"
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.
As of 2006, Gibson is estimated to be worth $850 million, making him the 47th richest person in the Los Angeles area, and the wealthiest actor in the world.
A chain smoker for much of his acting career, in 2004 Gibson was persuaded by his wife to limit his addiction to just three cigarettes a day.
He is Eric Cartman's favorite actor on South Park. Cartman mentions him several times, and in one episode he got to meet Gibson, but (in the episode) Gibson was insane and defecated on Cartman.

Prankster

Gibson has a reputation for being a prankster on the set of his movies, and many of his leading ladies have often accused him of acting juvenile on the set. While filming Conspiracy Theory, he played several pranks on co-star Julia Roberts, and disgusted co-star Jodie Foster by licking the dirt off a wagon wheel on the set of Maverick. On the set of Braveheart, he spread the false rumor that co-star Sophie Marceau was the granddaughter of famous French mime Marcel Marceau. He also directed several scenes in an Elmer Fudd voice, including the funeral scene of Murron Wallace, causing everyone to break down laughing. Before the filming of What Women Want, co-star Helen Hunt pleaded with Gibson to be spared of his pranks. Reportedly, there was no incident.

Quotes

"Vatican II corrupted the institution of the church. Look at the main fruits: dwindling numbers and pedophilia." — Time, January 27, 2003

"Why are they calling her a Nazi? ...Because modern secular Judaism wants to blame the Holocaust on the Catholic Church. And it's a lie. And it's revisionism. And they've been working on that one for a while." — On criticism of Anne Catherine Emmerich, a 19th century German nun whose writings influenced his portrayal of Jesus' crucifixion and also feature what some Liberals consider anti-Semitic overtones. The New Yorker, September 15, 2003

Filmography

As actor

Summer City (1977)
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
Mad Max (1979)
Tim (1979)
The Chain Reaction (1980)
Gallipoli (1981)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Attack Force Z (1982)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
The Bounty (1984)
The River (1984)
Mrs. Soffel (1984)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Bird on a Wire (1990)
Air America (1990)
Hamlet (1990)
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Earth and the American Dream (1992) (documentary) (narrator)
Forever Young (1992) (also executive producer)
The Chili Con Carne Club (1993) (short subject)
The Man Without a Face (1993)
Maverick (1994)
Casper (1995) (Cameo)
Braveheart (1995)
Pocahontas (1995) (voice)
''The Matthew Barnard Show (Episode 56: Braveliver) (1995)
Ransom (1996)
Fathers' Day (1997) (Cameo)
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
A True Story (1997) (Cameo)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
Payback (1999)
The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
Chicken Run (2000) (voice)
The Patriot (2000)
What Women Want (2000)
The One Dollar Diary (2001) (documentary)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Signs (2002)
Should Have Looked Like Mel (2003) (short subject)
Paparazzi (2004) (also producer)
Sam and George (2007) (currently announced start of production) (also producer)

As director

The Man Without a Face (1993)
Braveheart (1995)
The Passion of the Christ (2004) (also producer and writer)
Apocalypto (2006) (currently in post-production) (also executive producer, producer, and writer)

Awards & accomplishments

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)
People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (2004)
Named as the world's most powerful celebrity by US business magazine Forbes (2004)

External links

Mel Gibson on NNDB
Mel Gibson directory
Apocalypto Watch - Unofficial fan site for Mel Gibson's next movie
http://www.melgibson.com/ - Unauthorized Mel Gibson website
Mel Gibson Picture slide show
Roles turned down by Mel Gibson

References

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Mel Gibson