Born in the United States and raised in Australia, Mel Gibson is a classically trained actor who has become one of the most influential actor/directors in Hollywood. He’s played roles across the board from his breakout as the haunted title character in the 1979 small-budget sci-fi cult movie “Mad Max,” to a bumbling, comic ladies-man in 2000’s “What Women Want.”

His bread and butter role, and the one that made him a household name, was in the four-part “Lethal Weapon” series, which began in 1987. In between the “Lethal” films he found time to not only appear in some excellent movies, but move into directing as well. His production of “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004 earned him worldwide notoriety and financial success. 

He’s a mercurial actor who has had his share on controversy including a 2006 arrest for driving under the influence and a subsequent anti-Semitic rant that landed him squarely in headlines around the world.