Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson was seen surveying the damage done to his $14.5 million Malibu mansion after it burned down in the Pacific Palisades fire last week. The Lethal Weapon alum spoke out about the items he lost and the “sadness” he felt.
Mel, 69, rode through the neighborhood on a firetruck before arriving at the area where his family home once stood. The outing was captured in photos obtained by multiple outlets.
“My place looked like Dresden,” he said on NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports. “It’s emotional. You know, I lived there for about 14, 15 years, so it was home to me, and I had a lot of personal things there that, you know, I can’t get back. All kinds of stuff. Everything from photographs to files to, you know, just personal things that I had from over the years, and clothing, and you know, cool stuff.”
“There was a dozen places or so that were just non-existent. I mean, nothing but a chimney and a few roof tiles, and you dare not walk around for the nails and the whole deal. The vehicles were gone, everything,” Mel said of the neighborhood.
He later appeared on Fox News where he was asked about what he and his family were able to save before the fire ravaged their home and neighborhood. “Not much,” he shared. “A few necessary things.”
Mel said that his son “grabbed like three things and took off.” He explained that they were able to take some stuff like “passports and a couple of papers” but there was essentially “nothing left” after the house burned down.
He is a father of nine children. Mel shares kids Hannah, Edward, Christian, William, Louis, Milo and Thomas with ex-wife Robyn Moore Gibson and daughter Lucia with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. He welcomed his youngest child, son Lars, with current girlfriend Rosalind Ross in 2017.
The Braveheart actor said that he “knew the neighborhood was on fire” and that he was “in the path” while he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “I knew that my family was safe and out of harm’s way,” he said of his experience on the podcast while the fires ravaged the neighborhood.
Mel said that seeing his home and his neighbors’ homes completely damaged was “tragic” and “really sad.”
“There are neighbors I have that I was actually looking at them … I feel worse for them then I did for myself,” he said.
In another interview with Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo, Mel explained how he was feeling after losing his home of 15 years.
“It was an odd mixture of sadness … kind of a weird realization and blessing … because I thought they’re just things. … I’m going to miss some stuff. There was valuable stuff … personal stuff, that just breaks my heart. … I feel like I’m being stripped down and prepared for something else. … That’s maybe very personal, but I feel like the Almighty’s preparing me to do something big,” he said.
Mel was asked if he felt like it was “a spiritual preparation for the resurrection movie you’re about to embark on.”
“Totally,” he responded, referencing The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection. “I think that’s kind of it. It’s like, hey, look, God gives, God takes, we come in with nothing. That’s the same way we go out. And here’s the deal: You’ll always be okay if you seek first the kingdom of God.”