Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker. His family is of Irish origin. Gerard spent some of his very early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, but was mostly raised, along with his older brother and sister, in his hometown of Paisley. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he and his siblings were raised primarily by their mother, who later remarried. He had no contact with his father between the ages of two and 16 years old, after which time they became close. His father passed away when Gerard was in his early 20s. Butler went on to attend Glasgow University, where he studied to be a lawyer/solicitor. He was president of the school's law society thanks to his outgoing personality and great social skills. His acting career began when he was approached in a London coffee shop by actor 'Steven Berkoff' .
He is Scottish, but is of partial Irish ancestry. He has also mentioned that, because of this, his family does not have a tartan.
First stage role was in Coriolanus. Poked in the eye with a wooden stake during rehearsals for the play.
On the first day of shooting his film debut in Mrs Brown , 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.
Graduated from Glasgow University with a law degree
Did not see his father from the age of 2 until he turned 16.
(April 2001) Was once rumored to be the next James Bond (after Pierce Brosnan ).
Was confirmed for a role in Mindhunters , but chose to drop out of it because of his prior commitment to Timeline . The filming schedules of the two films overlapped. Jonny Lee Miller with whom Butler co-starred in Dracula 2000 stepped in to take his Mindhunter role.
Was a presenter at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards with fellow Scotsman Billy Boyd.
Was at one time the lead singer for a Scottish rock band named Speed, although music eventually became his second love after acting.
Has done five films in which his characters name is in the title: Dracula 2000 , "Attila" , The Phantom of the Opera , Beowulf & Grendel , and Burns.
Cried while talking about the Phantoms loneliness to The Phantom of the Opera director Joel Schumacher.
Had the rock-and-roll voice that Andrew Lloyd Webber always wanted to hear as the Phantom.
Jokes about preferring the mask side of his face to the regular side of his face.
Sang in a rock band whilst training to be a lawyer.
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.
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 , he asked, "This isnt going to be like the BBC puppet Aslan, right? Because, if so, Im leaving right now".
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.
Was chosen as the most attractive man of 2005 by Hello! Magazine
Prefers to be called Gerry. He does this because he notices that many people (especially Americans) struggle with pronouncing "Gerard".
Divides his time between Los Angeles, Malibu, and New York.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#10). [2007].
His favorite actors are Christian Bale and Gary Oldman.
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 , but started again towards the end of filming.
(April 2010) 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.
He is a huge fan of Glasgow Celtic Football club. He played for them in 2011, in a charity match against Manchester United.
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 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.
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.
During production of The Phantom of the Opera , it took him four hours to get fitted with his makeup and prosthetics.
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.
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 hed been at a party, covered in gashes and blood and, to this day, he has no idea what happened in that incident.
Worked in a variety of jobs including a waiter, a telemarketer and a demonstrator of how toys work at fairs between acting roles.
Has no formal acting training.
Did not start acting until he was twenty-five years old.
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.
He campaigned for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and was among the actors considered. The role eventually went to Ben Affleck.
Was unable to book a professional acting job for the first two years of his career.
Close friends with Bradley Cooper.
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 .
Was president of the Law society in college.
I saw this movie [How to Train Your Dragon (2010) ] and thought,"wow, I would really like an animated kid".
I see a lot of actors for whom life becomes one big schedule. I guess I,try to be more sensitive to my private life - to take a breath of fresh,air and be in the countryside or on a golf course.
I was really trying to make it as noticeable as possible, almost,drawing attention to it in a way. But it was right for 300 and Leonidas,and I am proud of what I achieved there but it is not right for Clyde.
I was born in Glasgow. But my family is pretty much from a little town called Paisley, famous for its cotton mills and paisley pattern.
It was always a dream as I was growing up. I would watch movies, mostly American movies, and be so engrossed in those stories, all I wanted to do was be there. I wanted to be part of that romance or that fantasy or be that warrior or that struggling soul who finally makes it good.
