Gerard Butler Biography
Summary
"Gerard James Butler" (born November 13, 1969) is a Scottish actor known to American audiences for his portrayal of King Leonidas in "300" and The Phantom in the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera.
Biography
Early life
Butler was born in Glasgow, the son of Margaret and Edward Butler. His great-grandparents were from Ireland. Butler was raised in a strict Catholic household in a working-class family. For the first two years of his life, he lived in Montreal. When his parents divorced, his mother took him and his siblings back to Scotland, to her hometown of Paisley. He had no further contact with his father until he was sixteen years old.
Career
Butler graduated from Glasgow University Law School 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 along side Billy Connolly. Based on the Michael Crichton book of the same name, Butler played archaeologist Andre Marek, also in 2003 he starred 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", in which he starred as King Leonidas of Sparta. The film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-starring Lena Headey, was released in March 2007. The film was an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel based on events surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece circa 480 BC. "300" was released in the US on March 9, 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 filming "PS, I Love You" with Hilary Swank. The film is based on Cecilia Ahern's novel and is scheduled for release in December 2007. On July 7, 2007 Butler appeared at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.
In November 2007, an Entertainment Weekly readers' poll named Gerard as #5 Ultimate Male Hottie of All Time.
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. Butler was also slated to play the role of Laurent in the new film adaptation of Emile Zola's novel "Therese Raquin", but he is no longer attached to the project due to a scheduling conflict with his upcoming role in the film "Game".
In 2006, Butler announced that he was in negotiations for the role of Ivan Issacs in the upcoming film "Priest", based on the graphic novel. In March 2007, he also confirmed he was in talks to film a remake of "Escape from New York" where he will star as Snake Plissken. In late October 2007, Gerard withdrew from the 'Escape From New York' remake due to creative differences. In May 2007, several press releases were made announcing that Butler has officially been cast in three more films and production dates have been scheduled. The films are:
"Nim's Island", which will also star Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin, will begin filming in late July 2007, at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. Butler has been cast in the role of Nim's father, Jack.
"The Untouchables: Capone Rising", the prequel to the film "The Untouchables", is scheduled to begin filming in October 2007. Brian De Palma will be directing. Butler is cast as Jimmy Malone.
"GAME", a futuristic thriller, co-produced by Paramount and Relativity Media, is scheduled to begin filming in November 2007. Butler has been cast as Kable, the No. 1-ranked warrior in the highest-rated game, which is called 'Slayers'.
In an interview, Butler expressed interest in playing in a comedy, yet he is still waiting for the right one to come along.
"RocknRolla", a gangster film directed by Guy Ritchie. Butler is cast as One-Two, a street-smart gangster involved in a lucrative real-estate scheme.
Filmography
Upcoming films
"Nim's Island" (2008)
"RocknRolla" (2008)
"The Untouchables: Capone Rising" (2008)
"Game" (2008)
"Priest" (2008)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Gerard Butler.
