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Gerard Butler

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Gerard James "Gerry" Butler (born November 13, 1969) is a British actor and singer.

Early life

Born in Glasgow, Scotland to Margaret and Edward Butler (both having mainly Irish ancestry), Gerard is the youngest of three children. He spent the first few years of his life in Montreal before returning to Paisley, Scotland after his parents' separation. He grew up with his mother, who remarried a few years later. He had no contact with his father until he was age 16. He studied law at Glasgow University, where he served as President of the school's Law Society, and worked as a solicitor after graduation. He spent the majority of his time as a lawyer feeling depressed and drinking. After being fired from his job he began acting. He has since sobered up and has not touched a drop of alcohol for over 8 years. While working as a lawyer, he sang with a rock band called Speed.

Film career

His early film roles included Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), with his first major role being the title character in Dracula 2000 (2000). His breakthrough came when he played the title role of Attila in the U.S. miniseries Attila (TV Miniseries) (2001). He also appeared in the UK miniseries The Jury.

He began taking formal singing lessons before he was even cast for the title role in Joel Schumacher's film rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, training for hours a day from January of 2003 to June of 2004. He became very close to his co-star Emmy Rossum, whom he sees as a little sister.

While filming the movie Mrs. Brown in Scotland with Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, 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 trouble. Butler jumped into the river and consequently saved the young boy from drowning. He received a "Certificate of Bravery" from the Royal Humane Society. He felt he only did what anyone in the situation would have done.

Butler recently completed filming "300," an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel based on the heroism of 300 elite Spartan warriors at the ancient battle of Thermopylae in Greece where he portrays the Spartan King Leonidas. Filming took place from October 2005 - January 2006 in Montreal.

Butler has grey-green eyes that tint blue in some of his films.[1]

Recent events

Template:Future He prefers to be called "Gerry" rather than "Gerard" (pronounced as GER-ard not Ger-ARD). Gerry's home base is in London, although he does spend time in Los Angeles and New York City.

Butterfly on a Wheel is in post production and is slated for a 2007 release. The film co-stars Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello, which was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Filmmaker Andrew Douglas, of "The Amityville Horror" remake fame, has signed on to direct the Screen Gems project titled "Priest," a post-apocalyptic horror western based on a comic book by Min-Woo Hyung. Butler will star as a warrior priest who hunts down vampires. Sony Pictures will distribute the film, which is scheduled to start production October 1 in Mexico.

Partial filmography

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