Gerard Butler Biography

Actor

Gerald Butler is a Scottish actor best known for his role as King Leonidas in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 (2007). Butler gave up a legal career to pursue acting and made his movie debut in 1997's Mrs. Brown (starring Judi Dench). Within two years he was a leading man, playing Attila the Hun on TV (2001) and Dracula on the big screen (2000). Roles in Reign of Fire (2002, with Christian Bale) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003, starring Angelina Jolie) led to a higher profile, and in 2004 Butler played the title character in the movie musical The Phantom of the Opera (co-starring Emmy Rossum). The success of 300 showed Butler at his manliest and most heroic, and P.S. I Love You, a romance tale with Hilary Swank released the same year, showed Butler's soft, sensitive side. By 2008 he was a Hollywood movie star with firm U.K. roots, appearing opposite Jodie Foster in Nim's Island and starring in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla.

Extra credit: Gerard Butler was awarded a Certificate of Bravery by the Royal Humane Society of Scotland in 1997 for saving a boy from drowning in the River Tay... Butler was mentioned in the gossip columns in 2004 and 2005 as a leading contender to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.