Mel Gibson loves miserable roles

Mar 2, 2010, 6:01 GMT

Mel Gibson finds it "thrilling" to play miserable characters.

The Hollywood actor - who stars as Thomas Craven, a homicide detective investigating the death of his activist daughter in 'The Edge of Darkness' - enjoys taking on unhappy roles, despite how difficult they can be, because it makes him appreciate his own life.

He said: "I'm not good at suffering. I scream my lungs out and hate it. But there's one advantage to it: you become humble and in the end you will find redemption. I admit it's a very thrilling process for me... I like to deal with it over and over again."

The 54-year-old star spent six years working behind the camera before making his comeback with 'The Edge of Darkness', and he decided to take on the role because he has started to realise time is precious.

He told German TV channel Tele 5: "I am what I am. Everyone's biding their time and one day will be your last and your life will be over. It's getting worse and worse and then you die. But since I've passed the big 50 I've chosen my projects more carefully. When you realise that half of your life has gone by you don't want to do s**t stuff anymore.

"I make clear-cut decisions now and only want to make films that are important to me. Everything else would be a waste of my lifetime. I prefer going fishing to doing a film, that's no use to me."