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Gerard Butler
Arriving at the "Elton John Aids Foundation" Oscar Party
Born	Gerard James Butler 13 November 1969 (1969-11-13) (age 40) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1997–present

Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for his roles in the films 300, The Phantom of the Opera, RocknRolla, P.S. I Love You, The Ugly Truth and Law Abiding Citizen.

Early life

Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, the youngest of three children of Margaret and Edward Butler.¹ He was raised in a Roman Catholic working-class family of Irish descent²³ and spent the first few years of his life in Canada, before returning to Scotland.⁴

Career

Auditions for the film Trainspotting and the 1987 classic The Lost Boys inspired him to become an actor. Butler left everything he had and went down to London where he was approached in a coffee shop by actor Steven Berkoff, who later appeared alongside Butler in Attila (2001/I) (TV), who gave him a role in a stage production of Coriolanus. After that Butler decided to give up law for acting. He was cast as Ewan McGregor's character Renton in the stage adaptation of Trainspotting. His film debut was as Billy Connolly's younger brother in Mrs. Brown (1997). While filming the movie in Scotland, he was enjoying a picnic with his mother, near the River Tay, when they heard the shouts of a young boy who had been swimming with a friend who was in some trouble. Butler jumped in and saved the young boy from drowning for which he received a Certificate of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society.

His film career continued with small roles, first in the James Bond movie 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 USA film Attila (2001/I) (TV). The film's producers wanted a known actor to play the part but kept coming back to Butler's screen tests and decided he was their man. He had to lose the thick Scottish accent for the role. Around the time Attila was being filmed, casting was in progress for Wes Craven's new take on the Dracula legacy. Also wanting a known name, Butler wasn't much of a consideration. He sent them a clip of his portrayal of Attila and was cast in the form of Butler in Dracula 2000 (2000). Attila's producers finished shooting a little early so he could get to work on Dracula 2000. Attila ended up being the second highest-rated TV movie ever. Following these two roles, Butler developed a fan base, an Internet site and began appearing on numerous lists.

Since then he has appeared in Reign of Fire (2002) as Creedy and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) as Terry Sheridan, alongside Angelina Jolie. The role of Andre Marek in the big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel Timeline (2003) attracted attention from both moviegoers and movie makers. Butler played an archaeologist who was sent back in time with a team of students to rescue a colleague. He went on to appear in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera (2004), playing the title character in the successful adaptation of the stage musical. It was a role that brought him much international attention. Other projects that followed include Dear Frankie (2004), The Game of Their Lives (2005) and Beowulf & Grendel (2005).

His breakthrough role came in 2007, when he starred as Spartan King Leonidas in the Warner Bros. production 300 (2007), based on the Frank Miller graphic novel, and Butterfly on a Wheel (2007) co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello, which aired on network TV under the title Shattered. In 2007, he starred in P.S. I Love You with Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank . In 2008, he appeared in Nim's Island (2008) and RocknRolla (2008). More recently he has also starred in the Mark Neveldine / Brian Taylor film Gamer, The Ugly Truth and Law Abiding Citizen.

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gerard Butler

• Gerard Butler at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile and photos of Gerard Butler in Men's Vogue, November 2008