Yes, folks, his eyes really are that blue.
Mel Gibson in person looks exactly like he does on screen. Maybe somewhat more tan and wrinkled, but the same. I don't know how tall he is -- I walked up to him afterward and thanked him, but for some strange reason my critical faculties left me at that moment -- but he's shorter than Darin. Of course, everyone is shorter than Darin, with the exception of Darin's brothers (the three of them are the World's Tallest Jews), so I haven't really told you anything.
Don't bother writing me with all the horrible stories and gossip about him. I hang out on alt.showbiz.gossip -- I've heard worse.
I'm not going to quote him here, because that was evidently one of the things he was worried about most. (I guess he didn't want anything he said to end up in the papers, which is fair, because this was an informal situation). But I'll mention a couple of the notable things about him, none of which I expected:
He bolted from the room when the time was up. I discovered why, when I found him downstairs outside the Film Building -- he needed a smoke. Oh well. I thanked him quickly and walked off. Another GSPer was asking him for his autograph. He obliged her, by the way.
Okay, okay, I'll tell you this much: I asked him, How did it feel now to work with other directors now that he'd directed himself? He said it made him much more empathetic. I mostly worked up the nerve to ask a question because I noticed one technique he had for interacting with the audience: he looked directly at his questioner when answering.
His eyes are really, really blue.
After Mel Gibson's talk, I ran into another student, Carolann. She had 45 minutes or so to wait before she had to leave. I didn't have anything to do except fight Friday evening traffic and watch The X-Files, so we sat in one of the parks scattered on the campus and chatted for a bit. We talked about writing and the program and the industry.
She's finished a couple of scripts and had one optioned, and she seems very realistic about what we're up against here. Especially as we're women in a male-dominated industry, and there's a definite bias against us in the films that are made and the people who make them.
The oddest thing about Carolann has nothing to do with her: she looks almost exactly like my friend Tori. I keep thinking about writing a script involving two sisters who look a lot alike just because of how closely they resemble one another.