Mel Gibson "Hamlet". Gibson was cast alongside experienced Shakespearean actors Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He compared working with Scofield to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson". Scofield said of Gibson "Not the sort of actor you'd think would make an ideal Hamlet, but he had enormous integrity and intelligence." In 1995, Mel Gibson directed, produced, and starred in "Braveheart", a biographical film of Sir William Wallace, a Scottish nationalist who was executed in 1305 for "high treason" against King Edward I of England. Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his second directorial
Empire Award for Best British Director Empire Award for Best British Director The Empire Award for Best British Director was an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine "Empire" to honor a British director working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best British Director was first introduced at the 2nd Empire Awards ceremony in 1997 with Danny Boyle receiving the award for his direction of "Trainspotting" and last presented as an annual award at the 6th Empire Awards ceremony in 2001 with it returning for a final time at the 10th Empire Awards ceremony in 2005. It was one of three Best