Mel Gibson is an American actor, director, and producer, who made his acting debut on the Australian television drama series The Sullivans (1976–1983). While a student at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, he was given an uncredited role in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and subsequently appeared as a leading actor in the micro budget surf drama Summer City (both in 1977). Gibson rose to prominence during the Australian New Wave cinema movement in the early 1980s, having appeared in his breakthrough role in George Miller's dystopian action film Mad Max (1979), portraying the eponymous hero. He reprised the role in its sequels, Mad Max 2 (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He appeared in Peter Weir's war drama Gallipoli (1981) and the romantic drama The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Five years later he played Martin Riggs in the buddy cop action comedy Lethal Weapon alongside Danny Glover—a role he later reprised in its sequels Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).

Gibson starred in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet in 1990, as the eponymous character of the Shakespearean tragedy of the same name. It was the first film produced by Icon Productions, a production company he co-founded with Bruce Davey. Gibson's directorial debut was The Man Without a Face (1993), an adaptation of Isabelle Holland's novel of the same name. Two years later he directed and produced Braveheart, a historical epic drama in which he also portrayed Sir William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish knight. The film earned him a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Director, and the film won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Gibson went on to star in Ransom (1996), Payback (1999), What Women Want and The Patriot (both in 2000), and We Were Soldiers (2002).

Gibson co-wrote, directed and produced The Passion of the Christ in 2004, a Biblical epic drama which chronicled the Passion of Jesus. On its release, the film garnered mixed reviews as well as notoriety for its graphic violence from critics. It grossed $370.3 million in the United States and $611.4 million worldwide, making it Gibson's highest-grossing film to date. Two years later he co-wrote, directed and produced Apocalypto, an epic adventure set in Central America depicting the last days of Mayan civilization before Spanish arrival in the 16th century. Gibson then took a ten-year hiatus from directing during which time he landed roles in Edge of Darkness (2010), Machete Kills (2013), The Expendables 3 (2014), and Blood Father (2016). He directed Hacksaw Ridge in 2016, a biographical war drama focusing on American World War II veteran Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. The film garnered praise from critics and audiences alike, as well as various accolades.

Film

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Acting roles

List of Mel Gibson film acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1977	Summer City	Scallop
1979	Mad Max	Max Rockatansky
	Tim	Tim
1980	The Chain Reaction	Mechanic	Uncredited
1981	Attack Force Z	Paul Kelly
	Gallipoli	Frank Dunne
	Mad Max 2	Max Rockatansky
1982	The Year of Living Dangerously	Guy Hamilton
1984	The Bounty	Fletcher Christian
	The River	Tom Garvey
	Mrs. Soffel	Ed Biddle
1985	Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome	Max Rockatansky
1987	Lethal Weapon	Martin Riggs
1988	Tequila Sunrise	Dale McKussic
1989	Lethal Weapon 2	Martin Riggs
1990	Bird on a Wire	Rick Jarmin
	Air America	Gene Ryack
	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
1992	Forever Young	Daniel McCormick
	Lethal Weapon 3	Martin Riggs
1993	The Man Without a Face	Justin McLeod	Also director
1994	Maverick	Bret Maverick
1995	Braveheart	William Wallace	Also director and producer
	Casper	Himself	Cameo
	Pocahontas	John Smith	Voice role
1996	Ransom	Tom Mullen
1997	Fathers' Day	Scott the Body Piercer	Uncredited cameo
	Conspiracy Theory	Jerry Fletcher
	FairyTale: A True Story	Major Sergeant Griffiths	Uncredited cameo
1998	Lethal Weapon 4	Martin Riggs
1999	Payback	Porter
2000	Chicken Run	Rocky	Voice role
	The Patriot	Benjamin Martin
	What Women Want	Nick Marshall
	The Million Dollar Hotel	Agent Skinner
2002	We Were Soldiers	Lt. Col. Hal Moore
	Signs	Father Graham Hess
2003	The Singing Detective	Dr. Gibbon	Also producer
2004	Paparazzi	Anger Management Therapy Patient	Uncredited cameo Also producer
2010	Edge of Darkness	Thomas Craven
2011	The Beaver	Walter Black
2012	Get the Gringo	Driver	Also producer and writer
2013	Machete Kills	Luther Voz
2014	The Expendables 3	Conrad Stonebanks
2016	Blood Father	John Link
2017	Daddy's Home 2	Kurt Mayron
2018	Dragged Across Concrete	Brett Ridgeman
2019	The Professor and the Madman	James Murray	Also producer
2020	Force of Nature	Ray Barrett
	Fatman	Chris Cringle
2021	Boss Level	Colonel Clive Ventor
	Dangerous	Dr. Alderwood
2022	Last Looks	Alastair Pinch
	Panama	Stark
	Agent Game	Olsen
	Father Stu	Bill Long
	Hot Seat	Wallace Reed
	Bandit	Tommy Kay
	On the Line	Elvis Cooney
2023	Confidential Informant	Kevin Hickey
	Desperation Road	Mitchell Gaines
2024	Boneyard	Agent Petrovick
TBA	Monster Summer †	TBA	Post-production

Filmmaking roles

List of Mel Gibson filmmaking credits

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1993	The Man Without a Face	Yes	No	No
1995	Braveheart	Yes	Yes	No
2004	The Passion of the Christ	Yes	Yes	Yes
2006	Apocalypto	Yes	Yes	Yes
2012	Get the Gringo	No	Yes	Yes
2016	Hacksaw Ridge	Yes	No	No
2024	Flight Risk †	Yes	Yes	No
2025	The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection †	Yes	Yes	Yes

Producer

Executive producer

Television

Acting roles

List of Mel Gibson television acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1976–1983	The Sullivans	Ray Henderson
1977–1984	Cop Shop	Peter Lang
1979	The Hero	Unknown
1981	Punishment	Rick Munro	Pilot
1989	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Mel Gibson / Living Colour"
1995	World of Discovery	Narrator	Episode: "Australia's Outback: The Vanishing Frontier"
1999	The Simpsons	Himself	Voice Episode: "Beyond Blunderdome"
2004–2005	Complete Savages	Officer Cox	Also director and executive producer
2023	The Continental: From the World of John Wick	Cormac	Miniseries

Executive producer

List of Mel Gibson television filmmaking credits

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2000	The Three Stooges	TV movie
2001	Invincible
2003	Family Curse
2004–2005	Clubhouse
2008	Carrier	Documentary

Theatre

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List of Mel Gibson theatre credits

Year	Title	Venue	Notes
1976	Le Chateau d'Hydro-Therapie Magnetique	Jane Street Theatre, Sydney	With Steve Bisley
1977	Mother and Son	NIDA Theatre, Sydney	With Steve Bisley and Judy Davis
	The Hostage		With Steve Bisley
	Once in a Lifetime		With Steve Bisley and Judy Davis
1978	Oedipus the King	Adelaide Festival of the Arts	With Colin Friels
	Cedoona		With Colin Friels and Judy Davis
	The Les Darcy Show
1979	Romeo and Juliet	Perth & Sydney	With Angela Punch-McGregor
	Waiting for Godot		With Geoffrey Rush
	On Our Selection	Sydney	Directed by George Whaley
1981	No Names, No Pack Drill		With Noni Hazelhurst
1982	Death of a Salesman		Directed by George Ogilvie
1993	Love Letters	Telluride, Colorado	With Sissy Spacek