Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children. In 1968, when he was twelve, his father, Hutton Gibson, moved the family to Australia, partly to keep his older sons out of the Vietnam War draft. Gibson grew up in Sydney, studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and became a star there with Mad Max in 1979 and Peter Weir's Gallipoli in 1981, before Hollywood made him one of the biggest stars in the world.

He was born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, at 4:45 in the afternoon, a time taken from a biography. His Sun is in Capricorn in the sixth house of work and discipline. Capricorn is ambitious and hardworking, and in the sixth house it describes a relentless work ethic. Gibson has been both an actor and a filmmaker, and his directing work has been known for its demanding, physically grueling productions.

Mars and Saturn, both in Scorpio, sit in his fifth house of creative expression. Scorpio is intense and drawn to violence, suffering and transformation, and Mars and Saturn there describe creative work filled with physical struggle and pain. Gibson's films as director, including Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto and Hacksaw Ridge, are known for their graphic violence and their focus on suffering, sacrifice and redemption.

Cancer is his rising sign, with Uranus, retrograde in Leo, in the first house. Uranus in the first house describes an unpredictable, rebellious public persona, and Gibson's career has been marked by sudden reversals, from beloved star to pariah and back again.

Braveheart, in 1995, won the Oscars for best picture and best director. In 2004 he self-financed The Passion of the Christ, filmed in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew, which became one of the highest-grossing independent films ever made.

Venus in Aquarius, in his eighth house of crisis and transformation, describes turbulent relationships. In 2006 he was arrested for drunk driving and made antisemitic remarks to the arresting officer, and in 2010 recordings of him verbally abusing his former partner, Oksana Grigorieva, became public. He pleaded no contest to a battery charge in 2011. He has apologized and spoken about his struggles with alcoholism.

Jupiter, retrograde in Virgo, in his third house, and Pluto in Leo describe a mix of meticulous craft and the will to reinvent. In 2016 Hacksaw Ridge, about a conscientious objector who saved dozens of soldiers at Okinawa, earned him an Academy Award nomination for best director, marking a partial return to Hollywood favor.

He has nine children. The Capricorn Sun made him a relentless worker; the Scorpio planets in his fifth house drew his art toward suffering and redemption.

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