Only “Extra’s” Mario Lopez had the chance to sit down with Mel Gibson at his star-studded Four Kings and an Ace charity poker tournament to benefit his charity Mending Kids. Mel spoke candidly about his children, the presidential election, and the first movie he has directed in 10 years, “Hacksaw Ridge.”
Mel, who is expecting his ninth child with his girlfriend, Rosalind Ross, said, “Yeah, number nine.” When Mario said he was trying to expand his family, Mel laughed and said, “In that negotiation, who’s the hostage? Is it you?” Though Gibson knows he’s going to be a dad again, he does not know much more… not even the sex of the baby. “I have no idea what I’m having and I don’t have the name picked out.” He explained that he’ll wait until the birth to find out the baby’s gender.
Moving on to politics, the 60-year-old also has an opinion about the election: “One of them is gonna win.” On whether he would ever make a film about the political climate, he said, “Not on this subject matter — it’s not interesting enough. It’s also a tragic joke, but that’s all I’ll say.”
The subject surrounding his new film, marking his return to the director chair “Hacksaw Ridge,” is much more compelling to him. The movie is based on the true story of WWII medic Desmond Doss, a pacifist who refused to carry a gun in combat but saved 75 of his fellow soldiers on the front lines. “It ticked all my boxes. It’s one of the greatest, heroic, American tales, true story that I’ve ever seen.”
The movie stars Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, and Mel’s own son Milo. “If it makes him happy and he’s good at it, go for it, I say. I’m proud of him. He did a good job for me.” Mel says he does not encourage or discourage his kids when it comes to show business. “I just support whatever they do.”
When he is not working on movies, the actor is spending time supporting kids worldwide with his Mending Kids foundation. “We’re in 63 countries now. There are 33 teams are out there at the moment, including in the United States. Best thing about this charity is that 95 cents out of every dollar goes to where it needs to go.” To find out how to help, visit Mendingkids.org!
As for his epic beard, Mel emphasized it’s not going anywhere! He also revealed that he just nabbed a starring role in a upcoming movie. “I’m working with Sean Penn right now over in Ireland… It’s cool… It’s about the Oxford English Dictionary — sounds boring, doesn’t it? But it's not, it’s quite compelling.”
“Hacksaw Ridge” is in theaters today.
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