Born on July 3, 1962 in Charleston, South Carolina, Gibson began acting at 9-years-old, enrolling in the Little Theater School before becoming a member of the Young Charleston Theater Company and the Footlight Players. Gibson later graduated Bishop England High School a year early in order to attend the College of Charleston, but left after a year and a half to attend the prestigious Juilliard School. In New York, he made a strong impact with performances in New York Shakespeare Festival productions before turning to the small screen, landing a guest role on CBS' legal drama "Leg Work" before securing stints on the daytime dramas "As the World Turns" (CBS) and "Another World" (NBC). He reached a larger audience with small roles in the high profile TV miniseries "Gore Vidal's Lincoln" (NBC, 1988) and "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" (ABC, 1990) before winning acclaim for his portrayal of contemptible decadent Beauchamp Day in the PBS miniseries adaptation "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City" (1994), a role he revived years later in "Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City" (1998).
Later in 1998, Gibson took his first stab at primetime television, beginning a stint on the medical drama "Chicago Hope" (CBS, 1994-2000). He played the arrogant and ambitious surgeon Dr. Daniel Nyland, a multifaceted character that offered the actor opportunity to showcase his talents, though the large ensemble cast limited his screen time. After three seasons on "Chicago Hope," Gibson made the jump to sitcoms with a starring role "Dharma & Greg" (ABC, 1997-2002), playing Greg Montgomery, a blue-blooded, Harvard-educated U.S. attorney who marries a hippyish yoga instructor and dog trainer, Dharma Finkelstein (Jenna Elfman), in a rare moment of spontaneity. The series followed the challenges the odd couple faced in dealing with their divergent world views and their disparate parents with a zany comedic approach and an uplifting love conquers all attitude, making a hit with audiences. Gibson deftly handled straight man duties opposite Jenna Elfman's wacky scene-stealing antics.
While he was winning over millions of television viewers, Gibson quietly amassed an impressive array of film credits, taking challenging roles in acclaimed indie features, an unexpected direction for a performer with his leading man good looks and unaffected assuredness. The actor made his feature debut as a villainous rival to Tom Cruise for Nicole Kidman in Ron Howard's "Far and Away" (1992), then had a small role as a stage actor in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" (1993). He essayed the role of David, a cynical and commitment-weary gay man in Canadian director Denys Arcand's "Love and Human Remains" (1993), a dark, but surprisingly funny tale about six interrelated people connected to a serial killer plaguing an unnamed Canadian metropolis. Next, Gibson's supporting turn in Whit Stillman's "Barcelona" (1994) so impressed Stanley Kubrick that the legendary director cast him in his last film, "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999).
Gibson next reunited with director Denys Arcand to costar in the Canadian drama "Stardom" (2000) as a smarmy promoter who is one of many men in the fashion industry with nefarious designs on a small-town girl (Jessica Paré) plucked from obscurity to become an international supermodel. His movie star looks and comic timing were then wasted as Chip Rockefeller, a suave millionaire with an eye for newlywed Wilma in the live-action prequel "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000). Later that year, the actor returned to his stage roots as a burnt-out surfer in "Psycho Beach Party," a darkly comic slasher flick in disguise as a 1960s beach movie. After a small role as an attorney in the straight-to-cable drama "Jack the Dog" (2001), Gibson starred as a China scholar-turned-business consultant on the hunt for a famous Chinese manuscript in the sprawling miniseries, "The Lost Empire" (NBC, 2001).
Gibson next played an art teacher tracing the ownership of a painting by 17th century Dutch master Jan Vermeer in "Brush With Fate" (CBS, 2003), then starred as a down-and-out police detective reassigned to campus security after the death of his wife at the hands of a serial killer only to discover a deranged scientist (John Waters) reanimating the her murderer's corpse in "Evil Never Dies" (TBS, 2003). In "Raising Waylon" (CBS, 2004), he starred as a man forced to care for his friends' son (Jeremy Bergman) with a woman (Poppy Montgomery) he can't stand after the unexpected death of his parents. He next played the chief operating officer of a public utility company in the ensemble cast for "Category 6: Day of Destruction" (CBS, 2004), a miniseries about three massive weather systems that collide over Chicago, creating the worst super-storm in American history. Meanwhile, Gibson returned to regular series work with the procedural drama "Criminal Minds" (CBS, 2005- ), playing the intense supervisor of an FBI task force with varied areas of expertise that tracks down serial killers.