Edge of Darkness

EDGE OF DARKNESS:

WIN TICKETS TO SEE MEL GIBSON IN  EDGE OF DARKNESS

NuMetro is offering 300 Top Billing magazine readers double tickets (for a reader and their partner) to exclusive screenings of Edge of Darkness on 5 May 2010 at 8pm. These screenings will be held Joburg (Hyde Park), Durban (Pavillion) and Cape Town (Canal Walk).


Email win@topbilling.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (subject Edge of Darkness) before 3 May 2010 for a chance to win.


EDGE OF DARKNESS opens on 7 May 2010.
edge-of-darkness.warnerbros.com
Book Tickets online at www.numetro.co.za

READ OUR PROFILE ON MEL IN THE MAY ISSUE OF TOP BILLING MAGAZINE, ON SALE FROM 26 APRIL TO 23 MAY 2010
(SEE EXTRACT BELOW).



THE PASSION OF THE BRAVEHEART

words: meghan spilsbury,  interview: rebecca murray,  photographs: numetro


He’s had his fair share of successes and failures, but Mel Gibson has by no means given up on his acting journey.

This Hollywood legend has the passion and the heart… and it’s little wonder the world wants to see more of him and the drama that seems to follow his every move!

Like a good red wine, actors usually only become great and mature with age! Mel Gibson has both age and experience behind him – that’s why in Hollywood, he can be considered to be the equivalent of a three-year-old French Merlot. But his road to success has been a bumpy one…

Born in the bayside area of Peekskill, New York, and one of 11 children, Gibson was no stranger to sharing the bathroom. After his father, Hutton Gibson, won $145 000 in an injury lawsuit against his employer, the New York Central Railroad, the Gibson family train left the station, departing for Sydney, Australia. Mel was only 12 years old at the time and, as the Gibson family are devout Catholics, Mel was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo’s Catholic College. He later joined the National Institute of Dramatic Art in search of fulfilling his dream of becoming an actor.
Mel made his cinematic début in the 1981 war movie Gallipoli and was compared to the likes of Steve McQueen, Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable for his rugged and manly physique. Following the success of the Golden Globe-nominated film, the still relatively unknown Mel Gibson was cast in a role which is now one of his most famous, that of law-enforcement agent Mad Max. This was the first in the series of futuristic dystopian films which was then followed by the sequel Mad Max 2. Mel, who played the leading role, was supported by the famous singer and actress Tina Turner, who played the evil role of Aunty Entity. Gibson later went on to play the lead role of Sergeant Martin Riggs in the action movie series Lethal Weapon. Although Mel played rugged and manly roles so well, he was by no means limited in his acting capabilities. The actor experimented with his acting range in human dramas such as Hamlet and comedic roles in films such as Maverick and What Women Want.

‘The risk of everything – life, limb, family – is not enough to keep you from it... You cannot do it to yourself. And people can help, yeah. But it’s God. You’ve got to go there. You’ve got to do it. Or you won’t survive... This whole experience in a way, for me, I’m sort of viewing it now as a kind of a blessing because, firstly, I got stopped before I did any real damage to anyone else. Thank God for that. I didn’t hurt myself, you know. I didn’t leave my kids fatherless. Some people need a big tap on the shoulder, in my case, public humiliation on a global scale seems to be what was required.'

At the première of his newest movie Edge of Darkness the actor joked, ‘You can still do the roughhouse. You just have to book the chiropractor in advance.’ Oksana, who was glowing, stood by her man on the red carpet at the première, seeming thrilled with how father and daughter are bonding: ‘He has been very doting and nurturing.’
Prior to Edge of Darkness, Mel has played a host of different roles throughout his career, and he explained the most challenging aspect about being in a film like this. ‘Every time you go out there to do something, you wonder if you can do it. There is no assured success. The whole business of putting your wares on display, whether you’re a chef or an opera director or a painter or an actor, a filmmaker, whatever you happen to be, you’re throwing your stuff out there for other people and it’s going to be judged and you’re either going to be excoriated or praised or somewhere in between. It’s a challenge. The whole gig is a challenge. From taking a lengthly break from acting.'

Print Friendly