Trivia

He has quickly gained a reputation as one of the nicest actors around, as he always takes time to socialize with fans and hangs out with crew members as much as co-stars on film sets.

He has a legal degree from Glasgow University, but gave up on that career after being fired from a law firm just one week before he was qualified to practice law.

On the first day of shooting his film debut in Mrs. Brown (1997), he had to run naked into a freezing sea and, as a result, developed hypothermia. Later during the filming, he saved a young boy from drowning in the river Tay and received a Certificate Of Bravery from The Royal Humane Society.

Cried while talking about the Phantom's loneliness to The Phantom of the Opera (2004) director Joel Schumacher.

Had the rock-and-roll voice that Andrew Lloyd Webber always wanted to hear as the Phantom.

He stated in an interview, before finally quitting drinking at age 27, that his wild drinking antics would involve smashing bottles over his own head, running in front of cars, and he once woke up in Paris, miles from where he'd been at a party, covered in gashes and blood and, to this day, he has no idea what happened in that incident.

His favorite actors are Christian Bale and Gary Oldman.

Jokes about preferring the mask side of his face to the regular side of his face.

Prefers to be called Gerry. He does this because he notices that many people (especially Americans) struggle with pronouncing "Gerard".

Graduated from Glasgow University with a law degree

Did not start acting until he was twenty-five years old.

He campaigned for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016) and was among the actors considered. The role eventually went to Ben Affleck.

Is constantly trying to quit smoking employing the use of hypnotism, patches, lasers and most general methods. He did quit for six months while filming 300 (2006), but started again towards the end of filming.

He was rescued after a surfing accident on December 18, 2011 in northern California. He and three others were filming a scene for Chasing Mavericks (2012) when they were hit by a freak set of waves. He was held underwater and dragged over a rocky reef until he was rescued by a safety worker on jet-skis. He was hospitalized for minor injuries and released.

Aside from singing in a band in college, he had no prior Musical experience before being cast in the title role of The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

Was at one time the lead singer for a Scottish rock band named Speed, although music eventually became his second love after acting.

During production of The Phantom of the Opera (2004), it took him four hours to get fitted with his makeup and prosthetics.

Has no formal acting training.

Sang in a rock band whilst training to be a lawyer.

His name is not pronounced, like the typical Gerard, with a long "A". "Ger" is pronounced like 'chair', with the "ard" pronounced like 'errd'. It is pronounced like 'chair-errd'.

Close friends with Bradley Cooper.

Revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015) in October 2018 that he is the first person in the history of the Scottish legal system to be fired before qualifying as a lawyer.

Did not see his father from the age of 2 until he turned 16.

When he auditioned for the role of "Aslan the Lion" in the Walden Media/Disney production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), he asked, "This isn't going to be like the BBC puppet Aslan, right? Because, if so, I'm leaving right now".

Divides his time between Los Angeles, Malibu, and New York.

He is a huge fan of Glasgow Celtic Football club. He played for them in 2011, in a charity match against Manchester United.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#10). [2007].

He is Scottish, but is of partial Irish ancestry. He has also mentioned that, because of this, his family does not have a tartan.

Was once rumored to be the next James Bond (after Pierce Brosnan). (April 2001)

Before his final year of law school, Butler took a year off to live in California. He mostly lived in Venice Beach, working at different jobs, traveling often, and, according to him, drinking heavily, at one point being arrested for alcohol-related disorderly conduct.

[whether the rippling six pack that he famously showed off in 300 was real] When people first saw the images, they thought that my abs were fake and that they had been touched up in a a computer. I can assure you those were really my abs. I pumped up so had for this film that my ab muscles became enormous. I was constantly instructed: "You are playing the king, you need to set an example (for the other actors).".

Gerard Butler won the lead role in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla on the basis of his shredded eight-packs abs that he famously showed off in the global hit 300. Asked why Ritchie cast Butler in the lead role, product Susan Downey said, "Guy saw Gerry in 300, and just fell in love with his abs and decided to cast him in our movie." Ritchie reiterated that saying, "He had a rather impressive set of abs in 300." Ironically, even though Butler was cast for his abs, he did not actually get a chance to show off his abs in the movie as he had no shirtless scenes.

Was president of the Law society in college.

Worked in a variety of jobs including a waiter, a telemarketer and a demonstrator of how toys work at fairs between acting roles.

Was confirmed for a role in Mindhunters (2004), but chose to drop out of it because of his prior commitment to Timeline (2003). The filming schedules of the two films overlapped. Jonny Lee Miller with whom Butler co-starred in Dracula 2000 (2000) stepped in to take his Mindhunter role.

Was chosen as the most attractive man of 2005 by Hello! Magazine

Was unable to book a professional acting job for the first two years of his career.

Along with Ben Stiller, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon and director Paul Haggis, he visited a camp for internally displaced persons managed by Sean Penn and his Jenkins-Penn Humanitarian Relief Organization in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (April 2010)

Used to frequent a weekly Jazz night in Beverly Hills hosted by Danny Masterson. Samantha Ronson, Bo Barrett, Ben Foster, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Scarimbolo were all frequently spotted there.

First stage role was in Coriolanus. Poked in the eye with a wooden stake during rehearsals for the play. Later he played Tullus Aufidius in the Coriolanus (2011) film.

Has done five films in which his character's name is in the title: Dracula 2000 (2000), Attila (2001), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Beowulf & Grendel (2005), and Burns (2006).

Was a presenter at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards with fellow Scotsman Billy Boyd.

Born at 5:21 AM (MET).

Has to this day played three period drama warrior leaders: Leonidas in 300 (2006), Stoick the Vast in How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and the titular character in Attila (2001), with Stoick being the first he will reprise in live-action.