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Learn 50 interesting facts about actor Gerard Butler.
1. Butler was born in Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland.
2. He is the youngest of three children.
3. He is the son of Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker.
4. Butler is from a Catholic family.
5. He is of Irish descent.
6. Butler's family moved to Montreal, Quebec, when he was six months old.
7. His mother returned to Scotland with him, from Quebec, when her marriage broke down, when Gerard was 18 months old.
8. Butler was head boy at St Mirin's & St Margaret's High School in Paisley and achieved respectable grades-good enough to win a place to study law at the University of Glasgow.
9. He also attended Scottish Youth Theatre while a teenager.
10. Butler did not see his father again until he was 16 years old, when Edward Butler called to meet him at a Glasgow restaurant. Butler became close to his father after this reunion.
11. He accepted Glasgow University's offer to study law.
12. During his time as a student, he became the President of the university law society, a position Butler later said he "kind of blagged my way into".
13. He also sang in a rock band called Speed.
14. While Butler was a 22-year-old student, his father was diagnosed with cancer and died.
15. Before his final year of law school, Butler took a year off to live in California.
16. While in California, he mostly lived in Venice Beach, working at different jobs, travelling often, and, according to him, drinking heavily, at one point being arrested for alcohol-related disorderly conduct. Butler later described this year as, "I was out of control, and justifying it with this idea that 'I'm young, this is life. This is me just being boisterous." After his time off in America, he returned to Scotland to finish his final year at law school.
17. His full name is Gerard James Butler.
18. He is an actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.
19. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as Mrs. Brown, the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, and Tale of the Mummy.
20. In 2000, he starred as Dracula in the horror film Dracula 2000 with Christopher Plummer and Jonny Lee Miller.
21. He played Attila the Hun in the miniseries Attila.
22. In the 2000s, Butler co-starred in the films Reign of Fire with Christian Bale, and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life with Angelina Jolie, before playing André Marek in the adaptation of Michael Crichton's science fiction adventure Timeline.
23. He then was cast as the role of Erik, The Phantom in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera alongside Emmy Rossum.
24. That role in The Phantom of the Opera earned him a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor.
25. In 2007, Butler gained recognition for his portrayal of King Leonidas in Zack Snyder's fantasy war film 300.
26. His role in 300 earned him nominations for an Empire Award for Best Actor and a Saturn Award for Best Actor and a win for MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.
27. He starred in the romantic drama film P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank.
28. He was cast in the 2008 films Nim's Island with Jodie Foster and RocknRolla with Idris Elba.
29. In 2009, he starred in several films including the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and the thriller Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx.
30. In the 2010s, he voiced the role of Stoick the Vast in the animated action-fantasy film How to Train Your Dragon, a role he later reprised in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, Gift of the Night Fury and How to Train Your Dragon 2.
31. He played military leader Tullus Aufidius in the 2011 film Coriolanus, the modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name.
32. He also played Sam Childers in the 2011 action biopic Machine Gun Preacher.
33. In 2012, he co-starred in the biographical drama surf film Chasing Mavericks with Jonny Weston, and the romantic comedy film Playing for Keeps with Jessica Biel.
34. He starred as Mike Banning in the action thriller film Olympus Has Fallen opposite Morgan Freeman.
35. Butler's television work includes playing Marty Claymore in The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, Gus in Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and Johnnie Donne in The Jury.
36. He split his time living between Los Angeles and Glasgow.
37. Butler has reportedly expressed interest in buying a Scottish castle.
38. Butler has stated in interviews he does not drink alcohol.
39. In 2011 Butler played in a charity match for Glasgow Celtic F.C..
40. He has supported Glasgow Celtic F.C. since childhood.
41. He would represent Celtic in a Hollywood film, starring as a "has been" player in Playing for Keeps.
42. In August 2013, Butler bought an equity stake in the Jamaica Tallawahs Cricket team, which forms part of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
43. Butler has been a supporter of charity Mary's Meals since 2010.
44. In London, Butler held a series of odd jobs until being cast by actor and director Steven Berkoff (who later appeared alongside him in Attila (2001)) in a stage production of Coriolanus.
45. He was cast as Ewan McGregor's character Renton in the stage adaptation of Trainspotting, the same play that had inspired him to become an actor.
46. His film debut was as Billy Connolly's character's younger brother in Mrs. Brown.
47. In 2000, Butler was cast in two breakthrough roles, the first being Attila the Hun in the American TV miniseries Attila. The film's producers wanted a known actor to play the part but eventually chose Butler.
48. In the role of Andre Marek in the big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel Timeline Butler played an archaeologist who was sent back in time with a team of students to rescue a colleague.
49. In 2003, director Joel Schumacher was deciding on the principal casting for the film The Phantom of the Opera, a film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name, and thought of Butler, whom he had seen earlier in the film Dracula 2000, to play the title character.
50. Butler had had no musical experience other than singing in a rock band while he was studying to be a lawyer. To prepare for his role in The Phantom of the Opera he immediately began taking singing lessons with a vocal coach. He then did an acting audition with Schumacher, and a singing audition with Lloyd Webber, both of whom were impressed by his performance.
