Mel Gibson stronger than ever

Jan 20, 2010, 10:08 GMT

Mel Gibson claims public humiliation has made him tougher.

The 'Edge of Darkness' star - who has battled alcoholism, been arrested for driving under the influence and is in the process of divorcing wife Robyn - claims to have experienced everyone's biggest fears on a "global scale" but insists he has learned from his mistakes.

He said: "You ask anybody what their number one fear is and it's public humiliation. Multiply that on a global scale and that's what I've been through. It changes you and makes you one tough motherf***er.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's really that simple. You can't do anything but live in the moment and leave the future in the hands of providence and don't regret the past too much. Maybe just take a lesson from it."

The 54-year-old actor said he'd recently become very philosophical about life and is prepared to accept that bad things will happen to him.

He said in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Life is life and one has experiences that are painful and some that are very pleasant. One has reward and sacrifice and more reward and disappointment and joy and happiness, and it's always going to be the same."

One thing in his life that Mel is thankful for is Lucia, his three-month-old daughter with girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

He said: "There's no gift like the gift of a young life and she's so sweet. It's fantastic. There are no possible words to describe it. It's the same, but I'm different."