Gerard Butler Wiki 

Butler at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival

Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as

Mrs. Brown (1997), the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Tale of the Mummy (1998). In 2000, he starred as Dracula in the horror film Dracula 2000 with Christopher Plummer and Jonny Lee Miller. The following year, he played Attila the Hun in the miniseries Attila (2001).

In the 2000s, Butler co-starred in the films Reign of Fire with Christian Bale (2002), and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life with Angelina Jolie (2003), before playing André Marek in the adaptation of Michael Crichton\'s science fiction adventure Timeline (2003). He then was cast as the role of Erik, The Phantom in Joel Schumacher\'s 2004 film adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera alongside Emmy Rossum. That role earned him a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor. In 2007, Butler gained recognition for his portrayal of King Leonidas in Zack Snyder\'s fantasy war film 300. That role earned him nominations for an Empire Award for Best Actor and a Saturn Award for Best Actor and a win for MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. That same year, he starred in the romantic drama film P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank. He was then cast in the 2008 films Nim\'s Island with Jodie Foster and RocknRolla with Idris Elba. In 2009, he starred in several films including the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and the thriller Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx.

In the 2010s, he voiced the role of Stoick the Vast in the animated action-fantasy film How to Train Your Dragon, a role he later reprised in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Gift of the Night Fury (2011) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014). He played military leader Tullus Aufidius in the 2011 film Coriolanus, the modernized adaptation of Shakespeare\'s tragedy of the same name. He also played Sam Childers in the 2011 action biopic Machine Gun Preacher. In 2012, he co-starred in the biographical drama surf film Chasing Mavericks with Jonny Weston, and the romantic comedy film Playing for Keeps with Jessica Biel. A year later, he starred as Mike Banning in the action thriller film Olympus Has Fallen opposite Morgan Freeman. He had a small part in the 2014 film 300: Rise of an Empire where he reprised his role as King Leonidas in flashback.

Butler\'s television work includes playing Marty Claymore in The Young Person\'s Guide to Becoming a Rock Star (1998), Gus in Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married (1999) and Johnnie Donne in The Jury (2002).

the youngest of three children of Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker.

Butler is from a Catholic family of Irish descent.

Butler\'s family moved to Montreal, Quebec, when he was six months old.

His mother returned to Scotland with him, from Quebec, when her marriage broke down, when Gerard was 18 months old.

Butler was head boy at St Mirin\'s & St Margaret\'s High School in Paisley and achieved respectable grades—good enough to win a place to study law at the University of Glasgow.

He also attended Scottish Youth Theatre while a teenager. Butler did not see his father again until he was 16 years old, when Edward Butler called to meet him at a Glasgow restaurant. After this meeting, Butler cried for hours, and recalled of it later: "That emotion showed me how much pain can sit in this body of yours; pain and sorrow that you don’t know you have until it is unleashed."

Butler became close to his father after this reunion. Around the same time, he also accepted Glasgow University\'s offer to study law. During his time as a student, he became the President of the university law society,

a position Butler later said he "kind of blagged my way into".

He also sang in a rock band called Speed.

While Butler was a 22-year-old student, his father was diagnosed with cancer and died. He would say of this period in his life: "I had gone from a 16-year-old who couldn\'t wait to grasp life to a 22-year-old who didn\'t care if he died in his sleep."

Before his final year of law school, Butler took a year off to live in California. He mostly lived in Venice Beach, working at different jobs, travelling often, and, according to him, drinking heavily, at one point being arrested for alcohol-related disorderly conduct.

Butler later described this year as, "I was out of control, and justifying it with this idea that \'I\'m young, this is life. This is me just being boisterous." After his time off in America, he returned to Scotland to finish his final year at law school.

Upon graduation, he won a position as a trainee lawyer at an Edinburgh law firm. However, his lifestyle remained unrestrained and he frequently missed work due to his partying antics. One week before he qualified as a lawyer, he was fired. At the age of 25, and an unqualified lawyer, Butler moved to London to pursue his dream of becoming famous. He admitted, "When I started out, I\'m not sure I was actually in it for the right reasons. I wanted very much to be famous."

Unable to win any acting roles initially, he worked in a variety of jobs including as a waiter, a telemarketer and a demonstrator of how toys work at fairs. Whilst in London, he met an old friend from his teenage days in the Scottish Youth Theatre, who was now a London casting agent. At that time, he was her boyfriend and her assistant. She took him to an audition for Steven Berkoff\'s play of Coriolanus.

The director said of Butler\'s audition, "When he read, he had such vigour and enthusiasm—so much that it made the other actors seem limp—that I decided to cast him in the ensemble."

Now aged 27, Butler had his first professional acting job. Less than a year later, he won a part in a theatre adaptation of Trainspotting, which he performed at the Edinburgh Festival. Aged 30, Butler decided to move to Los Angeles; there he won parts in Dracula 2000, Tomb Raider 2, Dear Frankie, and Phantom of the Opera.

In London, Butler held a series of odd jobs until being cast by actor and director Steven Berkoff (who later appeared alongside him in Attila (2001)) in a stage production of Coriolanus. He was cast as Ewan McGregor\'s character Renton in the stage adaptation of Trainspotting, the same play that had inspired him to become an actor.

His film debut was as Billy Connolly\'s character\'s younger brother in Mrs. Brown (1997).

His film career continued with small roles, first in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

and then Russell Mulcahy\'s Tale of the Mummy (1998). In 2000, Butler was cast in two breakthrough roles, the first being Attila the Hun in the American TV miniseries Attila (2001). The film\'s producers wanted a known actor to play the part but eventually chose Butler.

as Creedy and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) as Terry Sheridan, alongside Angelina Jolie. In the role of Andre Marek in the big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton\'s novel Timeline (2003),

Butler played an archaeologist who was sent back in time with a team of students to rescue a colleague. In 2003, director Joel Schumacher was deciding on the principal casting for the film The Phantom of the Opera, a film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name, and thought of Butler, whom he had seen earlier in the film Dracula 2000, to play the title character. Butler, who had had no musical experience other than singing in a rock band while he was studying to be a lawyer, was surprised at the interest, but immediately began taking singing lessons with a vocal coach.

He then did an acting audition with Schumacher, and a singing audition with Lloyd Webber, both of whom were impressed by his performance.

Despite the film receiving mixed reviews, Butler was praised for his performance.

Other projects that followed include Dear Frankie (2005), The Game of Their Lives (2005) and Beowulf & Grendel (2005).

In 2007, he starred as Spartan King Leonidas in the Warner Bros. production

300, which is often described as his breakthrough role.

Butler, who said he "wanted to look really strong" in the film, trained with a high-intensity workout for four months prior to the film\'s shooting.

In 2007, he also appeared in Butterfly on a Wheel co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello, which aired on network TV under the title Shattered,

and in the romantic comedy P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank.

In 2008, he appeared in Nim\'s Island and RocknRolla. In 2009, he starred in the Mark Neveldine/Brian Taylor film Gamer, The Ugly Truth

In 2010 he starred in the action/comedy The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston,

and did a voice-over for the 2010 animated film How to Train Your Dragon as Stoick the Vast.

On 15 and 16 October 2010, thanks to the popularity of his role as Spartan King Leonidas and the use of his lines during athletic events at Michigan State University, he was a guest at their Midnight Madness and homecoming American football game.

On 18 December 2011, while filming Chasing Mavericks, Butler was hospitalised after he was pulled under big waves. Subsequently, he was taken to Stanford University Medical Center and later released.

On 19 August 2011, NME reported that while filming Playing for Keeps, Butler was writing songs and in the process of recording an album. Marilyn Manson, Jack Black and Johnny Depp were said to be advising him on becoming a rock star.

However, in a 2013 interview with Parade, when asked if he had spoken with Manson or Depp about Rock music, Butler stated that "I\'ve never had conversations with Marilyn Manson or Johnny Depp. Though any conversation with either of them would be awesome!"

Butler starred in the action thriller Olympus Has Fallen, which was released in 2013 and co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. While filming Olympus Has Fallen, Butler says he broke two bones in his neck, but did not realise until he had an MRI scan.

Butler has been open in interviews about struggling with alcoholism. In February 2012, Butler\'s publicist announced that Butler had completed a course of treatment for substance abuse of pain killers at a rehab centre.

This was after Butler was concerned he was too reliant on prescribed pain relief medication which escalated when he was involved in a surfing incident while filming Chasing Mavericks.

As of October 2011, Butler splits his time living between Los Angeles and Glasgow.

In August 2013, Butler bought an equity stake in the Jamaica Tallawahs Cricket team, which forms part of the Limacol Caribbean Premiere League (CPL).

Butler has been a supporter of charity Mary\'s Meals since 2010.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

Butler at the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway

Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy

"300 Things We Didn\'t Know About Gerard Butler". Esquire.com. 13 June 2009

Fox, Chloe (20 July 2009). "Gerard Butler interview for The Ugly Truth". The Daily Telegraph (London)

"Gerard Butler in Wrath Of Gods". 15 March 2010

"Drawn Together: Gerard Butler & Craig Ferguson". Cineplex Movie Blog. 15 March 2010

"Gerard Butler Apologises for Irish Accent". YouTube. 26 January 2009

"Gerard Butler: ‘Why I am still single’". Now Magazine

^ Daily News. "Gerard Butler breaks the mold"

Fox, Chloe (20 July 2009). "Gerard Butler interview for The Ugly Truth". Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). Archived from the original on 4 March 2010.

Stewart, Stephen (28 March 2010). "Gerard Butler\'s school pal on how Hollywood star phoned to grovel after branding her a flirt on TV". Daily Record

Hedegaard, Erik (April 2010). "Gerry the Sinner, Gerry the Saint". Men\'s Journal

LadyThrills (14 October 2007). "LadyThrills.com: Gerard Butler". Ladythrills.blogspot.co.uk

Stars and Stories (20 July 2009). "Gerard Butler interview for The Ugly Truth". London: Telegraph

"Attila: hot babes, baths and, erm, birth control". The Guardian. 28 January 2010

"The Graph Of Manliness: Gerard Butle". empireonline.com

^ Gerard Butler phantom of the opera Stella Papamichael, 2004

^ Gerard Butler – Phantom of the Opera interview, Paul Fischer, femail.com.au, 2004

Murray, Rebecca. "Gerard Butler Talks About The Phantom and "Beowulf and Grendel

^ Law Abiding Citizen Trailer: Gerard Butler Is Still in Search of an Identity, Mark Graham, New York Magazine Vulture blog, 14 August 2009

^ Spartan Workout Secrets from the Star of 300, Men\'s Health

"Gerard Butler Interview – P.S. I LOVE YOU". collider.com

"Gerard Butler interview for The Ugly Truth". The Daily Telegraph

"Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler Seek Justice With ‘Law Abiding Citizen’". mtv. 15 October 2009

"Gerard Butler says his \'Bounty Hunter\' co-star Jennifer Aniston is like family". nydailynews.com

"Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson Talk HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, the Evolution of the Film, LONDON HAS FALLEN, and More". collider.com. 14 June 2014

Gerard Butler (20 December 2011). "Gerard Butler OK After Big-Wave Surfing Mishap". E! Online

"Marilyn Manson advises Gerard Butler on becoming a rock star – NME"

"Gerard Butler on Singing, Fame, and the Secret Service"

"Gerard Butler broke neck bones". 27 March 2013.

Gerard Butler Completes Stint in Rehab People. Retrieved 25 February 2012

^ Gerard Butler suffers Mav\'s hold-down ESPN, Retrieved 25 February 2012

^ Butler cleans up after surf-accident drug dependence Half Moon Bay Review, Retrieved 25 February 2012

^ I miss going to see Celtic play, admits Hollywood hunk Gerard Butler Daily Record. Retrieved 4 October 2011

^ Cricket-Caribbean venues packed again thanks to CPL Twenty20

Meadows, Sophie. "Gerard Butler Shows How Mary’s Meals is Changing Lives in Liberia". goodnewsshared.com

Adam Sandler vs. Bob Barker – Happy Gilmore (1996)

Fairuza Balk vs. Robin Tunney – The Craft (1997)

Ben Stiller vs. Puffy the Dog – There\'s Something About Mary (1999)

Keanu Reeves vs. Laurence Fishburne – The Matrix (2000)

Zhang Ziyi vs. Entire bar – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker vs. Hong Kong gang – Rush Hour 2 (2002)

Yoda vs. Christopher Lee – Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2003)

Uma Thurman vs. Chiaki Kuriyama – Kill Bill Volume 1 (2004)

Uma Thurman vs. Daryl Hannah – Kill Bill Volume 2 (2005)

Angelina Jolie vs. Brad Pitt – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2006)

Sean Faris vs. Cam Gigandet – Never Back Down (2008)

Robert Pattinson vs. Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2011)

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig – The Hunger Games (2012)

Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner vs. Tom Hiddleston – The Avengers (2013)

Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2014)

Dylan O\'Brien vs. Will Poulter – The Maze Runner (2015)

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