Mel Gibson works in the film industry.
Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson ( born January 3 , 1956 ) is an American actor and filmmaker . Gibson is best known as an action hero , for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series , and Max Rockatansky in the first three films in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic action series . During the 1980s , he founded Icon Entertainment , a production company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called , `` an alternative to the studio system '' . Gibson produced , directed , and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart ( 1995 ) , for which he won the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for Best Director , along with the Academy Award for Best Picture .