Mel Gibson went back to acting school in Australia on Tuesday, to open a new theater for which he served as a benefactor, reports the Associated Press. Mighty Mel, 46, Down Under to promote his recent Vietnam movie "We Were Soldiers," told students at his alma mater, the National Institute of Dramatic Arts, "Keep your nose to the grindstone and don't stop dreaming." Though born in New York State, Gibson moved with his family to Australia in 1964, when Mel was 8, partly because his father didn't want his sons to be drafted into the Vietnam War. After high school, Gibson studied at Sydney's University of New South Wales, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside such future names as "Life with Judy Garland" Emmy winner Judy Davis, 47, and "Shine" Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, 50. ("Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann, 40, was a student there later on.) Gibson graduated from the institute a quarter of a century ago. "It seems like a heartbeat," he said during the ceremony, "but unfortunately the lines on my face tell a different story." AP reports that the "Braveheart" star donated nearly 2 million Australian dollars (about U.S. $1,080,000) toward the new theater, though at Monday night's Sydney premiere of "We Were Soldiers," he modestly played down his gift. "Hey, all I did was hand them a check," he said. As for returning to his school, he told the news service: "It's like going to see the house you were born in or something. I don't know if it does much good, just gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling."