Mel Gibson, A Controversial Figure Turning 70

Oscar-winner Mel Gibson, the brilliant and controversial auteur behind "The Passion of the Christ" and its now-upcoming sequel "The Resurrection of the Christ", turns 70 on January 3. Numbers have been both an obsession and a curse in the life of Mel Columcille Gibson, the most uneven talent of turn-of-the-century Hollywood, a man who considers himself halfway between a modern-day John the Baptist and a star from another era.

With his hermit-like white beard, positions consistently outside the mainstream, and a muscular, grandiose vision of cinema both as an actor and director, he has found in Italy his new promised land. For his birthday, he risks appearing as a new messiah among the Sassi of Matera. As is known—and under utmost secrecy, despite frequent and contradictory leaks—it is there that his new Passion of Christ, dedicated to the Resurrection, is being filmed, expected to reach theaters—perhaps in two parts—in 2027.

Indeed, his homeland is the first number to consider: four. The son of Irish-American parents, he holds dual U.S. and Irish passports, but also Australian citizenship, the country where he has lived since age 12, and he declares that today his heart beats in Italy.