After an eight-year absence from acting and a period of personal turmoil which left many in Hollywood wondering if he would ever work again, actor Mel Gibson is finally back.
The 54-year-old Oscar-winning actor-director, who was once one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, returns on Friday in his first major role since 2002. Gibson headlines the action thriller Edge of Darkness.
His re-emergence is the latest step on the road to rehabilitation which has followed his 2006 bust for drunken-driving and subsequent revelations of anti-Semitic remarks made to police during his arrest.
The Braveheart star admitted that he had considered never returning to acting during his absence. “Probably further towards the beginning but then as time went on I was like, ‘Eh, maybe I should I try that again’,” he said at a Los Angeles press event ahead of the release of the film.