Mel Gibson Admits Regret and Discusses His Decade of Sobriety

The Oscar winner talks about the "worst moment," a wake-up call.

ByABC News
October 18, 2016, 11:55 AM

— -- Mel Gibson was once one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

Now, after 10 years sober, the former "Lethal Weapon" star is opening up about the wake-up call he had years back. Talking to Australia’s Sunday Night Channel 7, while promoting his new directorial project, Gibson said the leaked 2010 call to the mother of his child was "the worst moment."

He said the conversation with his ex, Oksana Grigorieva, wasn't meant to be broadcast to the world, "but that’s what happens, you know."

The call was laced with racial slurs and threats, which Gibson, now 60, said he regrets. This also happened a few years after a 2006 DUI.

But the "Hacksaw Ridge" director said his sobriety has brought him back to the light. His new film is getting rave reviews and Oscar buzz.

"I am a member of 12-step program and I achieved sobriety like that. I've got 10 years of sobriety under my belt," he said. "I had other lengths before that like eight years one time, fall off, four years. It's like that, like through a revolving door."

The two-time Oscar winner added that even with a decade under his belt "on the wagon," it's hard for him to read the negative reports about his character.

"You find out pretty quickly that it is like out of your control," he said in the interview. "The first time you leave your hotel room and a group of people follow you with cameras and stuff and you say 'That is enough, please go away now' and they go 'Nope.' There is nothing you can do."

Along with his new film, Gibson is also expecting his ninth child with girlfriend Rosalind Ross.

"Hacksaw Ridge" hits theaters on Nov. 4.