Are Mel real children in The Patriot Movie?

The children who play the Mel siblings in "The Patriot" are real children, but they were not Mel Gibson's actual children.

The roles of Thomas and Susan "Susanna" Martin were played by:

* Jacob and Maggie Grace. They are siblings in real life, and were both very young at the time of filming. They were not related to Mel Gibson, who plays their father, Benjamin Martin.

Mel Gibson did have several children at the time, but they were not the right age for the roles. His oldest daughter, Hannah Gibson, was about 12 years old in 2000, when "The Patriot" was released. His youngest son, Thomas, was born in 2004.