ISSUES OF BEING AND NOT BEING ARE FAMILIAR TO `HAMLET' STAR

Mel Gibson's fans may think of him as a man of action, but the actor says he feels right at home playing men cursed with the inability to make up their minds. Gibson stars as Hamlet, the thinker who wasn't sure whether "to be or not to be," in the latest adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy. "You're never really supremely happy, except in short spurts in your life," Gibson told Parade magazine. "I certainly have times when I feel like chucking the towel in, pulling up roots and going to some island somewhere - but then you realize that you must never abandon hope," he said. Gibson, 35, had played Shakespeare on stage before becoming a film star. Also appearing in the film are Glenn Close as Gertrude and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia.