Later that year, Gibson’s popularity was confirmed when he was featured on the cover of People magazine as the first ever “Sexiest Man Alive.”

After a brief hiatus, Gibson returned to the screen with the blockbuster hit Lethal Weapon (1987), playing volatile cop, Martin Riggs, opposite Danny Glover’s by-the-book character, Roger Murtaugh. The success of Lethal Weapon inspired three sequels - Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), all of which featured Glover and Gibson in their respective roles as good cop and bad cop. In Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990), Gibson gave a notable performance as the tormented prince. In addition, Hamlet was the first film produced by Gibson’s newly formed production company, Icon productions. Other productions by Icon included the Beethoven biopic Immortal Beloved (1994), and the 1997 remake of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenia. In the early ‘90s, Gibson appeared in a few poorly received films, including Air America (1990) and the sappy Forever Young (1992). He made his feature directorial debut with the 1993 tearjerker The Man Without a Face, in which he also played a severely disfigured burn victim. In 1995, Gibson released his most passionate project to date, directing and starring as the 13th century Scottish nobleman, Sir William Wallace, in the medieval epic Braveheart. The film triumphed at the Oscars, winning top honors in five categories, including Best Picture and Best Director. Gibson diversified his range of characters later the same year, when he provided the voice of John Smith in Disney’s Pocahontas (1995). In the late ‘90’s, Gibson starred in a handful of crime thrillers, including 1996’s Ransom (with Renee Russo and Gary Sinise), 1997’s Conspiracy Theory (with Julia Roberts), and the independent film Payback (1999). In 2000, he headlined the highly anticipated war saga The Patriot, in which he played a reluctant hero during the American Revolution. Also that year, he starred in the romantic comedy What Women Want, costarring Helen Hunt, Lauren Holly, and Bette Midler. In 2002, Gibson headlined another box-office hit, M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, where he plays a rural Pennsylvania farmer whose life takes a drastic turn when 500-foot crop circles appear in his cornfields.

Gibson's next project puts him back in the director's chair in an ambitious film about the final 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life. The Passion will be entirely in the ancient languages of Latin and Aramaic, without the use of subtitles. He has also signed on for the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise, Fury Road. In 1980, Gibson married Robyn Moore. They have seven children and recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.