Actor and director Mel Gibson has stated that even he is surprised that he has been accepted back into Hollywood, following a string of controversies in his career.

The star faced a huge backlash in the mid-2000s over derogatory comments and a DUI (driving under the influence) charge that saw him out of the spotlight for the best part of a decade, until the Oscar-winning Hacksaw Ridge saw him make a comeback.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show to promote his new movie Daddy's Home 2, Gibson said: "I am surprised as I have been digging a ditch for the past 10 years.

preview for Daddy's Home 2 trailer

"Quite frankly, it's been a lot of hard work personally and professionally, but the work goes on as I think it does for most of us."

Explaining that he never considered stepping away from public life, Gibson said that "you just have to get back up there and express yourself through storytelling.

"That never went away. During those years I was just writing and conceiving stories."

He also thanked Jodie Foster, Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg for remaining "loyal" to him over the years.

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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

Speaking of Danny Glover, he said the pair have been swapping ideas for a new Lethal Weapon movie, joking: "We could call it 'Flaccid Weapon' or 'Lethal Hemorrhoids'!"

The Graham Norton Show airs tomorrow (24 November), while Daddy's Home 2 is out in cinemas on the same day.

From: Digital Spy