Gerard Butler Breaks Down His Career, from '300' to 'Law Abiding Citizen'

Gerard Butler takes us through his action-packed career, breaking down his roles in 'Mrs. Brown,' 'Phantom of the Opera,' '300,' 'P.S.

I Love You,' 'Law Abiding Citizen,' 'Olympus Has Fallen' and 'Greenland.'

GREENLAND coming soon!

- You know, people often sayto me, "Oh, you were so brave."You changed your career."And that's really not the case.I remember feeling this, one,a devastation and humiliation,but also thinking, "Wow, I'm free."I can do whatever I want."I have nothing right now,why not aim for the stars?So I did.[melancholy instrumental music]Hi, I'm Gerard Butler,and this is the timeline of my career.- So little rooms, thingsyou do and don't do.- All I did was tell the womanhow I feel for God's sake.- You don't tell her majesty how you feel.- So "Mrs. Brown" came to meat a very interesting period of my life.When I had been training as a lawyer,I had been fired oneweek before qualifyingafter seven years of my lifein law school and trainingwhere they'd released me and said,"We think your dreams lie elsewhere."Which they did.And I, the next day, jumpedin a car on move to Londonand called my mom and said, "You know,"for all these years youthought I was gonna be a lawyer."Well, it's not happening."I've just been fired."I know it's humiliating, but guess what?"It's okay 'cause I'mgoing to be an actor."Ah!I went down to London and kindof begged and scraped a bitand talked my way intoan audition for theater,for Shakespeare, actually.And I got the role,and then talked my wayinto another auditionand got the lead role in thisplay called "Trainspotting,"which then got me an agent,which was everything.In actual fact, "Mrs.Brown" was my first auditionfor any film.And I got a call, I wasvisiting my family in Scotlandsaying, "Hey, you got the role."And I'm like these people are crazy.What are they thinking?My first day on "Mrs. Brown"was actually kind of awful.I was terrified and I rememberhaving to run into the bushesto have a pee 'cause therewas no toilets there.And I was so nervous,I couldn't stop peeing.I kept trying to put mycostume up and I'm like,"Oh, I'm still going."Oh, I'm still..."And it was also so cold,and it's the North Sea,and it was November andthe sea was so forebodingand black and scary.And we knew that at the end of the day,we had to run naked into that ocean.And the whole day they wouldspray us and pour water on us'cause we were filming the sceneafter having been in theocean, so we're soaking wet.So they soaked our hair.They soaked our bodies.And by four o'clock in theafternoon, we both had,especially me, the onset of hypothermiaand they were very worried about us.They had ambulances waiting.They were about to rushme to the hospital.[laughs] A great first day.And little did I knowthat that would also bewhat the rest of mycareer was like.

[laughs]It was always something.[calm instrumental music]♪ Night time sharpens ♪♪ Heightens each sensation ♪- I feel like I've spent most of my careerfeeling like a total imposter,but so there's a partof me has a lot of fear.Some of it is super healthybecause it pushes me,and some of it I could do withoutbecause it's just annoying.But what I would always dowould be push to try thingsthat neither myself or anybodyelse would think I could do.So I'd never had asinging lesson in my life,and then I had to singfor Andrew Lloyd Webber.So that was one of thescariest experiences of my...I will never forget it.And Joel Schumacher, God resthis soul, I love that man,sitting up at the front witha huge smile on his face'cause he knew how nervous I was,and Simon who was playing thepiano started doing this to meas I went to sing.And he was telling me to breathe,but I thought he washaving a panic attack.And I'm like, "Why is he nervous?"I'm the one having this audition."He's going [gasping],he's going [gasping].And I'm like this, "He's putting me off."This is not gonna work," withJoel at the front like this.And then Andrew LloydWebber broke down my singingfor about an hour and a half,which is probably amazing to thinkthat he would find so muchto say about your voiceand every facet of your voiceand the different tones.But me and my insecurityjust took it all as criticismand I walked out of there saying to Joel,"He hated me."He doesn't like it."He just ripped me apart."And Joel's like, "He loved you."The job is yours."And then I proceeded toperform around peoplethat all had pretty much athousand times more experiencethan me in singing.But no, I loved it becausefor me it was character first,even the singing.I knew I'm never going tohave the voice that they have,but if I can sing with truth,and they even taught methat way, which I loved.If your voice breaks in amoment because of emotion,you know, or whisper, or you know,this was "The Phantom" for the screenso you were allowed tobe so much more subtle.I went into that character so deeply,and much as it was beautifuland the sets were incredibleand I was surrounded bythe most amazing cast,you know, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson,Miranda Richardson, Simon Callow.I mean, are you kidding me?But I spent a lot of timereally lonely and depressedand kind of away from everybodyand breaking my heart.My heart broke that whole movie for him,for the character that I was playing.Even now as I think aboutit, a very emotional,but beautiful as well,to feel that so strongly.And I remember as I wouldbe singing and I would thinkif one person connects withwhat I'm feeling right now,just one, all this willhave been worth it.Unfortunately, nobody did.

[laughs]- You threaten my peoplewith slavery and death.Oh, I've chosen my wordscarefully, Persian.Perhaps you should have done the same.- This is blasphemy.This is madness.- I felt like "300" was an amalgamationof so many of the roles that I had playedwith all their power andstrength and darkness,because I felt Leonidas also hada kind of twisted side to him.You had to be to keep that warrior ethos.When I first met with Zack Snyderafter having read thegraphic novel, I was in.I'm like, "I am..."And I remember being ina cafe with Zack going,"And they're gonna walk likethis and stand like this,"and this is, you know."And he's like, "Yeah, yeah."And he's jumping about.And then they showed methe test that they did.And that was the otherproducers I was meetingfor the first time.And I remember I was takingthis thing for trainingthat I'd got from GNC, which made me,it was the first time I'd ever taken it,it made me edgy, and I was so nervous.And then they show me this test shotand I jump up in the sofa and I'm like,"This is amazing!"This is..."And then I walk out ofthere going, "I blew that."I blew that."But it was the opposite.Each time they said, you know, this guy,he has so much passion andstrength and connectionto the role, but it still leftme to have to call Alan Horn.I was left in this weirdsituation where they said,"Okay, we don't want to put you forward"so we want you to call Alan Horn"because if we put youforward and he says no,"it's gonna damage your project."So I knew I was their man,but I had to call Alan Horn,who was the president, thechairman of Warner Brothers,out of the blue.And then I prepared thisspeech about why I was Leonidasand why I would give everythingto make him so proud of meand the job that I would do,and I felt it was mydestiny to play that roleand do justice to that man.And then the next day I got the call,and whenever there'sfive agents on the phone,you know you're either in big troubleor something amazing has just happened.So I got the call and all Iheard was, "You got '300'."And I was in some clock shop in Beverly.I didn't even know whyI was in a clock shop,but I'm not one to normally make,especially when I'm on my ownI don't make a lot of noise,but I'm like, "Yes!

Yes!""I got it!" [laughs]And then I went, "Oh [beep]."I just told them I wasgoing to be amazing."How am I going to pull that off?"And that happens, it'sso funny when you say,"Let me at this, I've got this."And they say okay.And then you go to, "Idon't know how to do this."What am I gonna do?"Again, healthy fear thoughbecause I started trainingso hard and I tried to imaginewhat would a Spartan do.And to train like a Spartan,to think like a Spartan,to eat like a Spartan.And I would even channel Leonidasand trust that all hisstrength and passionand discipline and courage andsacrifice was all inside meand would come out in whateverI said, whatever I did,however I trained.And again, just like in "The Phantom,"those ideas hopefully wouldtransmit into the audienceand they would feel the powerof that man and what they did.[dramatic instrumental music]- Holly, my wife, by theway, my beautiful wife.And I do.[audience cheering]I love Holly, I do.But she would never have the guts[audience oohing]to do something like this.Oh no.- There was a lotta love on that set,a lot of kind of crazinessbut in the sweetest way.There was a lot of kinda like weird,but big hearted peoplethere, and including me,and I guess at that pointin my career I was flying.I was on a high and it waslovely to go from a movielike "300" playing Leonidas into somethingthat you couldn't get moredifferent in Gerry Kennedy.You know, this Irish, "Hey, how are ya?"That's Gerry Kennedy, yeah absolutely.And I remember when Imet Richard LaGravenese,who became a dear friend of mine,I could just already tell how much heartand love was in this movie.And as I went into the movie,every person that was involved higher up,Richard, it representedhis friend Ted Demme,and one of the otherproducers representingher sister who passed away.And they all thought, and rightly so,that the story was theirstory and telling their story.And I feel like that's one of the reasonswhy the movie was so successfulbecause it became everybody's storyin accordance with whatthey had gone throughin their lives.But I remember saying toRichard when I first met him,I said, "You know I have this idea,"because as an actor, even if you're niceand you have a big heart,you still go into a movieand you're thinking about yourself.How am I gonna do?Am I gonna?You know, and how do Ikinda protect this role?And I said I'm so gonna dothe opposite of that here.I wanna go in and just think about Hilaryand think is she okay?What is the saying?"By self-forgetting that one finds."And the funny thing is it really worked.I had such a great time in that movie'cause I didn't thinkabout me all the time.I didn't, you know.I was really like always kindof checking are you good?Are you good, are you good?And it was a veryinteresting exercise which,as I'm saying this now I'm going,I haven't done it enough since.I'm back to me, me, me,me, me, me, me.

[laughs]But I didn't even realize what an impactthat movie would have, you know.Even today when I meetpeople they're like,"Oh my God, 'P.S.

I love You'."And they all tell you thestory of what it meant to them.Or once I was in Irelandand nobody knew I was there,I was in this bar.The movie had been outfor about six monthsand I was in this dark partwith a couple of friends.And I went to the toiletand I had to go through the dance floor.And as I went through the dance floor"Galway Girl" came on."Galway Girl's" always beena popular song in Ireland,but it wouldn't fill the dance floor.Walking through thatdance floor and they said,"And now 'P.S.

I LoveYou' and 'Galway Girl'."Everybody jumped up andnobody recognized me.I just kept walking.And I'm like what do you do here?Do you stop and go,"Hey, that's actually me."I sang that."But I didn't, I kept going.But it was beautiful justto see the excitementthat that generated in this hotel bar.♪ I'd be taking a whirl ♪♪ 'Round the SalthillProm with a Galway girl ♪[upbeat instrumental music][audience cheering]- Napkin, Nick.- Napkin.- Oh, excuse me, waiter.You might want to put 30%down for yourself, my man.- For "300" I won action star of the yearand I just made my speech,and I came off the stageand this guy approached me and said,"By the way, you're maybegonna do a movie that I wrote."And this movie was called "Edwin A.

Salt."It later became "Salt."It's such a great Hollywood story.It was a guy, then it changedand suddenly it was Angelina Jolie.But at that point I was intalks to make that movie.'Cause at first I waslike, "Oh, here we go."And I'm like, "Wait, youwrote 'Edwin A.

Salt'."Oh my God, I love that movie."What else have you got?"He said, "I wrote this other movie"called 'Law Abiding Citizen'.""Get it to me, let me see it."To be honest, the making ofthat movie was a bit of a mess.There was a lot of...Jamie was awesome, but tryingto get that script rightbefore we went.There was a lot of issues.The first movie we produced,it was a bit all over the place.And there were too manycooks in the kitchen.Like it was extremely frustrating,and I wasn't sure how it would turn out,but I loved the making of it.And I love taking on that character.I was very surprised byhow people tapped intothe idea of vengeance ifsomebody hurts your family,and if you're not servedjustice by the law.Because you are, you'releft castrated there.And then you go, okay, withthat we can have so much fun.What does he do?But I always felt inthe movie by the pointthat he kills the ADs thatthe audience should say,"All right, that's enough."Now we want him to die."But it's a bit scary 'cause they're like,"Yeah, that's okay."He kills all those innocent ADs."We still want him to live."And I'm like that was not really the waythat I thought it would pan out,but I loved the way it panned out.It's amazing that you do these thingsand they start as aseed, an idea, a scriptthat needs a lot of work.And then you walk aroundin the streets todayand people go, "'LawAbiding Citizen' man."Again, it's fun.It's part of why I love doing what I do.[people screaming]- Hey!Hey, get the fuck back![gun banging][bomb exploding]- Avi Lerner from Millennium Films gave me"Olympus Has Fallen" and another script.It was like a two-handerbetween a hitman and a cop.It was very funny, a lot of action.I liked them both.I literally couldn'tdecide which one to do.And I said, "Avi, which onedo you think I should do?"And he said, "You know, I don't know."You do whatever you want,but if you don't make..."Because they were makingthe, what was the other?"White House Down."And he said, if youdon't make "Olympus" now,before "White House Down,"we'll never make "Olympus."So I thought, okay, let's make "Olympus."It was a big risk 'causethere was a $200 million moviebeing made on very similar subject matterby a very infamous director.The cast that we got onthat movie, you know,Melissa Leo, MorganFreeman, Angela Bassett,Aaron Eckhart, Dylan McDermott.And I look back I'm like Idid not for a single secondduring filming think thatthis would be a franchise.I just thought it was a one-off movie.I thought it would probably bomb.I tried my best.I, you know, I loved making that movie,but I thought it would probablycome out and get laughed at.And I'm sure some people did,but I was amazed how it went down.People loved that movie.- Wait, where is the explosion?[birds cawing][air whooshing]- I don't wanna make as manyaction or disaster moviesas I used to.And if I do, there has to besomething different about it.But the second I read "Greenland,"I completely understood whythis movie could be madeand affect people.I'd never read a disaster movie like thisthat actually was somuch more about humanity,or rather being human andgrounded and real and messy.And like your leadcharacters they forget thingsand they make mistakesand they take wrong turns.And as you would do in anemergency, you kind of,you don't always get things right.The same way with reallypaying a lot of attentionto how the society kindof decays around usand in such an interestingand diverse way.Some people are celebrating.Some people are praying.Some people don't care.Some people are looting.Some people wanna help us.Some people wanna kill us.And as you go on thisjourney with a familythat you know way more than you doin your typical disaster movie,you really climb into theircomplexity and their flawsand their struggles and their resentmentsand their awkwardness and their love.So you're in it now in this journeyand you see everything through their lens,and it just made this...This movie is so unusualbecause you really,you don't even feelnecessarily you're watchinga Hollywood disaster movie.You kinda feel like you're really in thisand it's powerful and devastatingand scary and beautifuland touching and hopeful,and it has it all.And, yeah.Yeah, I just, I knew we couldmake something pretty special.One of the joys of notjust being an actor,but when you get a chance toplay great roles, you know.I remember coming up inthe career when they gohere's a script withall these great roles.We want you to play this tiny one.And suddenly they're likehere's the great rolein the movie and youknow, all this beautiful.Suddenly you're dealingwith the best writersand fantastic directorsand you're around a castthat you couldn't possibly of dreamed ofthat are gonna help lift you up.But right now, I'm good,and I'm actually excitedto get back to work.