Gerard Butler Bio

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Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor known for his portrayal of King Leonidas in 300, The Phantom in the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera, Gerry Kennedy in P.S. I Love You, and One Two in "RocknRolla".

Gerard Butler: Early life

Butler was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Margaret Hanton and Edward Butler. His great-grandparents were from Ireland. Butler was raised in a Catholic working-class family. For the first two years of his life, he lived in Montreal, Quebec. When his parents divorced, his mother returned to Scotland with he and his siblings, Lynn and Brian. Butler had no further contact with his father until he was sixteen years old. His father died of cancer when Gerard was 22. Butler attended Scottish Youth Theatre.

Gerard Butler: Career

Butler graduated from the School of Law at Glasgow University before embarking on his early career in stage plays. His first roles were in Coriolanus and in the stage version of Trainspotting. Butler landed his first film role as Archie Brown in 1997's Mrs. Brown alongside Judi Dench and Billy Connolly. That same year, he appeared in a minor role in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. He followed this with several appearances in various independent films and several television series in the UK, including a role in the series Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and the films The Cherry Orchard, One More Kiss, and Harrison's Flowers.

In 1999, he began filming his first lead role as Attila the Hun in the American TV miniseries Attila. During filming of Attila, the production actually stopped in order for him to film his second lead role as Dracula in Wes Craven's Dracula 2000. Both films were released in 2000. In this early part of his career his most notable work was in The Jury, a critically acclaimed UK TV miniseries. In Timeline which was released in 2003, Butler once again starred alongside Billy Connolly. Based on the Michael Crichton book of the same name, Butler played archaeologist Andre Marek. Also in 2003, he starred as Terry Sheridan opposite Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The following year he was cast in the title role of Joel Schumacher's film rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, co-starring Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, and Ciaran Hinds. Prior to filming The Phantom of the Opera, Butler had completed the independent film Dear Frankie, which co-starred Emily Mortimer.

In 2005, he starred in The Game of Their Lives, a film based on a true story of the 1950 U.S. soccer team who beat England 1 - 0 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The same year he was cast in as Beowulf in the Sturla Gunnarsson film production of Beowulf & Grendel. Filmed entirely in Iceland, Beowulf & Grendel was widely released in Canada to moderate success. During filming, Butler also participated in and co-produced the documentary Wrath of Gods. Directed by Jon Gustafsson, the film documents the dramatic circumstances the cast and crew faced while making the film Beowulf & Grendel. Later this same year Butler began production of 300. The film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-starring Lena Headey, was released in March 2007. The film was an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name based on events surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece circa 480 BC. 300 was released in the US on 9 March 2007. It currently holds the record for the highest opening weekend box office gross in the month of March at over $72 million during that first weekend. As of May 2007, 300 had a box office gross of $438 million after nine weeks. Butler received various awards for this role including "Action Star of the Year" at the Taurus World Stunt Awards and "Biggest Ass Kicker" at the 2007 Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards.

In 2006, Butler completed filming Butterfly on a Wheel (renamed Shattered in the U.S.) and began work on PS, I Love You with Hilary Swank for which he received two awards, one for worst accent and the other for least sexy American, based on Cecilia Ahern's novel and released in December 2007.

Nim's Island, which also stars Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin, opened in cinemas on 4 April 2008. Butler was cast in the role of Nim's father, Jack, and as Nim's imaginary hero, Alex Rover. The dual role allowed Butler to use his natural Scottish burr when playing Alex, while he adopted an American accent as Jack.

He next appeared in RocknRolla, a gangster film directed by Guy Ritchie, playing a street-smart gangster involved in a lucrative real-estate scheme. This film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008 and was released in major North American cities in October 2008.

Butler is also the voice of The Captain in the Watchmen movie extra, "Tales from the Black Freighter" that will complement Zack Snyder's adaptation of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore's Watchmen. The special was released on both Blu-Ray and DVD on March 24, 2009.

Gerard Butler: Personal life

Butler currently splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City. Butler is a supporter of Celtic F.C..

Butler was a heavy smoker but quit smoking in 2007 when he played Gerry Kennedy in PS, I Love You. "I was smoking a huge amount and having real bad premonitions and then I got this role where the guy dies of cancer", Butler said. "The film made me contemplate death and realize I was playing Russian roulette with my health. I've stopped smoking since".

Butler also prefers many people call him Gerry. The main reason, as he told Jay Leno during an appearance on The Tonight Show, was because he disliked the way people, Americans especially, pronounced Gerard.

Gerard Butler: Future roles

In 2005, Butler announced that he would play Robert Burns in the film Burns. Several tentative production dates have been set for the film, but they have been postponed due to scheduling and financing conflicts. On January 25, 2009, the 250th anniversary of Burns' birth, it was announced that the film is back on track and will hopefully begin filming in 2009 on location in Scotland. The film will be co-produced by Evil Twins, Butler's production company.

Butler was also slated to play the role of Laurent in the new film adaptation of Emile Zola's novel Thérí¨se Raquin, but he is no longer attached to the project due to a scheduling conflict with his upcoming role in the film Game.

• GAMER, a futuristic thriller, co-produced by Paramount and Relativity Media, began filming in November 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA and is currently in post-production. Butler has been cast as Kable, the No. 1-ranked warrior in the highest-rated game, which is called "Slayerz".

• Butler has completed work on the battle of the sexes comedy The Ugly Truth for Lakeshore Entertainment costaring Katherine Heigl.. The film has a release date of July 24, 2009.

• Butler has joined the cast of "How to Train Your Dragon" for Dreamworks animation. Butler will voice the father and chief of the tribe, Stoick the Vast, while America Ferrera voices Astrid, who partners with Hiccup for the initiation.

• Butler will costar in Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx, his first project of his production company, Evil Twins, slated for a March 26, 2010 release by Overture Films. The film will be directed by F. Gary Gray. Shooting began on January 21, 2009 on location in Philadelphia, PA,, and wrapped filming April 2009. The movie will tentatively be released on March 26, 2010 in the United States.

• As of April 2009, Butler is scheduled to begin filming, Bounty Hunter, with Jennifer Aniston.