Gerard Butler

Upon graduation, he took a position as a trainee lawyer at an Edinburgh law firm. However, he continued to stay out late drinking and frequently missed work. One week before he qualified as a lawyer, he was fired. At the age of 25, and an unqualified lawyer, he 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."[10]

Initially unable to win any acting roles, he worked in a variety of jobs including as a waiter, a telemarketer and a toy demonstrator at fairs. In London, he met an old friend from his teenage days in the Scottish Youth Theatre, who was now a London casting director. At that time, he was her boyfriend and her assistant. She took him to an audition for Steven Berkoff's play of Coriolanus.[13] 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."[14]

Then aged 27, Butler had his first professional acting job. Less than a year later, he won a part in a theatre adaptation of Trainspotting at the Edinburgh Festival. At age 30, he decided to move to Los Angeles, where he won parts in Dracula 2000, Tomb Raider 2, Dear Frankie and Phantom of the Opera.[14]

Butler at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival

In London, Butler had various 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.[16] His film debut was as Billy Connolly's character's younger brother in Mrs Brown (1997).[17]

His film career continued with small roles, first in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)[16] 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.[18] He was cast as Dracula in Dracula 2000 (2000).[19]

He then appeared in Reign of Fire (2002)[20] 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),[21] 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.[22] He then did an acting audition with Schumacher, and a singing audition with Lloyd Webber, both of whom were impressed by his performance.[23] The film, and Butler's performance, received mixed reviews, though Butler was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actor.

Other projects that followed include Dear Frankie (2005), The Game of Their Lives (2005) and Beowulf & Grendel (2005).[24]

In 2006, he starred as Spartan King Leonidas in the Warner Bros. production 300, which is often described as his breakthrough role.[25] 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.[26] In 2007, he appeared in Butterfly on a Wheel co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello, which aired on network TV under the title Shattered,[27] and in the romantic comedy P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank.[28] In 2008, he appeared in Nim's Island and RocknRolla. In 2009, he starred in the Neveldine/Taylor film Gamer, The Ugly Truth[29] and Law Abiding Citizen, which he also co-produced.[30] In 2010 he starred in the action/comedy The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston,[31] and did voice acting for the 2010 animated film How to Train Your Dragon as Stoick the Vast.[32]

Butler in 2013

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.[33]

As of August 2011, Butler, while filming Playing for Keeps, was writing songs and in the process of recording an album.[34] He disavowed gossip reports that Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp had advised him on the project.[35] On 18 December that year, while filming Chasing Mavericks, Butler was hospitalized after he was pulled under big waves. Subsequently, he was taken to Stanford University Medical Center and later released.[36]

Butler starred as Secret Service agent Mike Banning in the action thriller Olympus Has Fallen (2013), opposite co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. He said he broke two bones in his neck while shooting the film, but did not realise this until he had an MRI scan.[37] Butler reprised his voice role as Stoick in How to Train Your Dragon 2 in 2014. Two years later, he reprised his role as Mike Banning in the Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen and also portrayed Set in Gods of Egypt. Late in 2018 Butler starred as submarine captain Commander Joe Glass of the USS Arkansas, a Virginia class nuclear submarine, in the film Hunter Killer. He starred as Mike Banning again in the 2019 film Angel Has Fallen. After release delays due to COVID-19, Butler starred in Greenland in Fall 2020.

He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Actor's Branch since 2011.[38][39]