Mel Gibson: 'I've Been Angry All My Life'

Actor-Director Says He 'Can Murder Inanimate Objects' With His Anger

(CBS)  The actor-director eventually pleaded no contest to charges of drunk driving under a plea deal in which he's required to serve three years' probation, pay a fine and attend alcohol rehab classes.

Gibson says that when he got home that morning (a morning he describes as "unbearable") he faced his family members, his wife, Robyn, and their children, and apologized. "I've apologized more than anyone I know. It's getting old," he said.

That morning "some of my kids were there and I talked to them for a little bit and it was a little rough that morning. So I chased it down with a few cold ones," he admitted.

He discussed how he told his wife, his companion for 26 years and the mother of their seven children. "I just told her straight out: 'slipped again.' She was like, of course, you know, she doesn't like that, so — but she was gracious, compassionate," he said.

Gibson said he sees the incident as "a blessing," and Sawyer questioned that description.

"Yeah. Well, firstly, I got stopped before I did real damage to anyone else," he said. "Thank God for that. I didn't hurt myself. I didn't leave my kids fatherless. That's a blessing, OK? The other thing is, sometimes you need a cold bucket of water in the face to sort of snap to. Because you're dealing with a sort of malady of the soul — an obsession of the mind. Some people need a big tap on the shoulder. In my case, public humiliation on a global scale seems to be what was required."

He disagreed with the statement that alcohol reveals how one really feels about things.

"Alcohol loosens your tongue and makes you act, say and behave in a way that is not you," he said. Adding that anyone who uses the old Roman saying, "In Vino Veritas," to describe what happened, "they don't know what they're talking about; it's as simple as that. Or they don't have the problem and don't understand it."

Sawyer countered that there are plenty of people who get drunk and don't go on anti-Semitic tirades.

"People say all sorts of horrible things, not just anti-Semitic things," he said. "They say horrible things. They say to their parents, 'I hate you and I want you to die.' They don't mean that stuff. It's the stuff that comes out when you're loaded. It's extreme."

In tomorrow's portion of the interview, Sawyer and Gibson will talk about where his anti-Semitic statements came from.