The last twenty years or so haven't all been kind to Mel Gibson, who's suffered some mishaps in his personal life, and come in for negative press attention as a result. That might have been the trigger for him to buy an island where he can spend is days without worrying about photographers lurking around every corner. True to Gibson's style, he didn't just buy any old island - he bought one of the biggest private islands anywhere in the Pacific, close to Fiji. Even in doing that, he couldn't completely steer clear of controversy - the island used to belong to slave owners, and was used as a cotton and sugar plantation in the 19th century.
Those days were long gone by the time Gibson paid $15m to buy it from a businessman in 2005, and he set to work removing all traces of the island's history. One of the very few buildings that remains on the 5,400 acres of land is Gibson's purpose-built mansion; the rest of it is pure and unspoiled.
Most of your favorite celebrities either studied acting in college or went straight from high school into a life of the arts. But, hey, not all of them. Some celebrities actually have advanced college degrees.
Turns out Mayim Bialik is just as much of a genius as the one she plays on The Big Bang Theory. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on obsessive compulsive disorder among people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare condition in which the hypothalamus malfunctions.
Little known fact: Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace because she was studying for her high school exams. She had two papers published in scientific journals while she was still in high school, and graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.
Before he was looking for answers on X-Files, David Duchovny was just trying to find the answers for English finals at Princeton University90. David graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a B.A in English. He continued to feed his love of literature by receiving a master’s degree in English Literature at Yale University. David was an excellent writer and poet. His work consistently received praise by his fellow classmates and teachers at Yale. His writing was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets.
Sigourney Weaver graduated from Stanford University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in Literature. It was while studying at Stanford that Sigourney realized her true passion in life was to become an actress. Shortly after graduation, she attended Yale for their well-known drama program. She would go on to receive a master’s in Acting from Yale University and become friends with fellow famous actress Meryl Streep.
Meryl Streep is considered one of the most successful actresses of all time. She is also one of the most highly educated. Before collecting an array of Oscars, Meryl collected diplomas. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1971. Meryl has a habit of being unsatisfied with impressive accomplishments as her acting career has shown, so she attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in Acting.