• Faith: Christian - Catholic
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  January 03, 1956

Mel Gibson is a film director and actor known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the action series “Mad Max” and as Martin Riggs in “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, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company. Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the WWI dram “Gallipoli,” which earned him the Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute. In 1985, he was named People Magazine’s first Sexiest Man Alive.

In 1995, Gibson directed, produced, 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 highly controversial and financially successful. He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film “Apocalypto,” which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. After several legal issues and controversial statements leaked to the public, Gibson’s popularity in Hollywood declined, affecting his career in directing and acting.

His career started seeing a resurgence in his performance in “Edge of Darkness” and Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver.” His directorial comeback after an absence of 10 years, “Hacksaw Ridge,” won two Academy Awards and was nominated for another four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Gibson, his second nomination in the category. Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of 11 children and the second son of Hutton and Anne Patricia Gibson. One of Gibson’s younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. 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.

What religion is Mel Gibson?

Gibson was raised a sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic, who rejects the sitting pop and usually several prior ones as well. During the filming of “The Passion of the Christ,” he had daily visits from both local priests and priests from the Institute of Christ the King, a non-sedevacantist group, in France. When asked about the Catholic doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, Gibson said, “There is no salvation for those outside the Church, I believe it. Put it this way: my wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly, she’s Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it." When he was asked whether John 14:6 is an intolerant position, he said that "through the merits of Jesus' sacrifice, even people who don't know Jesus are able to be saved, but through Him."