14 Facts About Mel Gibson

Although many think Gibson is Australian, he was actually born in Peekskill, New York. His father moved the family to Australia when Mel was 12, reportedly partly to keep his sons from being drafted into the Vietnam War.

Mel Gibson reportedly got his breakthrough role in Mad Max (1979) after accompanying a friend to the audition the day after getting beaten up in a bar fight. His bruised, rugged look caught the casting director's eye, and the rest is history.

Gibson started drinking young, and his alcohol problems haunted him for decades, leading to arrests, controversial statements and scandals.

In 2006 Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence, but it was what he said afterwards that caused a huge shock: an antisemitic rant at the arresting officer. He later apologized publicly, but the incident made him a Hollywood outcast for years.

Gibson has spoken about going through a severe depression and even having suicidal thoughts in the years before his success in the '90s. His faith, treatment and support from friends helped him get his life back on track.

In the '90s and early 2000s, Mel Gibson earned record fees, reportedly around 25 million dollars per film for movies like Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) and The Patriot (2000).

Gibson believed so strongly in The Passion of the Christ (2004) that he put up around 30 million dollars of his own money to make it. Hollywood studios didn't want to touch it, but it became a huge hit, grossing more than 600 million dollars worldwide.

After Roger Moore's departure in the '80s, Mel Gibson was reportedly among the names mentioned for the role of James Bond, but he wasn't interested in being tied to a franchise. The role eventually went to Timothy Dalton.

Mel Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, was a known Holocaust denier and conspiracy theorist. Many people wondered whether Mel shared those views, especially after his 2006 remarks.

Gibson has nine children: seven with his ex-wife Robyn Moore, one with Oksana Grigorieva and one with his partner Rosalind Ross. He also owns a private island, Mago, in Fiji.

In 2010 his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva accused him of physical and verbal abuse. Recordings leaked in which Gibson could be heard ranting at her with racist and misogynistic slurs. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge, and the scandal kept him out of Hollywood for years.

After his scandals, Gibson was persona non grata in Hollywood for years. Robert Downey Jr., whom Gibson had supported during his own darkest period, publicly called for Hollywood to forgive him in a much-discussed 2011 award speech.

His first major directing effort after his years in exile, Hacksaw Ridge (2016), was a big success, won two Oscars and earned Gibson a Best Director nomination. It proved he was still a brilliant filmmaker despite his controversial past.

In 2017 Warner Bros. reportedly held talks with Mel Gibson about directing the Suicide Squad sequel, but it never happened. The film was eventually made by James Gunn as The Suicide Squad (2021).