14 DAY TRIAL // He’s played parts from the manly, fearless King Leonidas in “300” to the terrifying and, at the same time, loving Angel of Music in “Phantom of the Opera,” with a wide array of other movies in between, raging from romantic comedies to action films. Despite having a fanbase of millions, both men and women, the one thing that Gerard Butler did not want was to become an actor, as he reveals in the latest issue of Esquire magazine.
Admittedly, Butler (or Gerry, as fans call him) is one of the best-looking men the industry is promoting right now. More than that, the star is also extremely down to earth and reportedly a pleasure to be around, a statement both fans who have had the luck to meet him and reporters can confirm. For Cal Fussman from Esquire, Gerard is certainly a larger than life personality, while also an extremely nice and agreeable guy, despite the fact that the reporter did not even know who he was when he met him for the interview.
The first thing that one notes about Butler, Esquire says, is his sense of humor and the incredible smile he flashes every chance he gets – that and his seeming inability to avoid foul words at almost every sentence. After that is his disarming honesty: like when he says he never really wanted to become an actor. “I wasn’t going to be an actor. I was going to be a lawyer. I came from a family just above working class, just below middle class, a great family of wonderful values. The idea of me having a chance for a law degree was enticing. Enticing to me but also very enticing to my family. Wow, one of our own is studying law at university!” Butler says.
Motivated mostly by the pride his family was taking in him, Gerard got an honorary degree although he was far from the perfect student in more ways than one. Everything changed before his final year, when he traveled to the US to get a taste of life, as he puts it. At the same time, Gerard also got drunk and arrested more times than he would like to count, which made it so that, by the time he returned back home, he had lost all interest he might have ever had in school.
He moved to London and, slowly, tried to make a name for himself in acting, even if it was extremely hard for him since he had neither studies in the field nor the right backers. “I did know a casting director who worked small theater productions. She was very blunt. She said, ‘Some of my best friends who’ve busted their [expletive-]ing balls going through drama school can’t get jobs.’ So I was doing telemarketing, walking around shopping malls trying to get people interested in computers when I didn’t even know what I was selling. Then this casting director said I could assist her in giving out pages to the actors for a play done by Steven Berkoff.” Butler says of how he ended up getting his first role.
From thereon, it was history, as they say, and Gerard Butler became the superstar fans know and love today. For the full interview, please see here.
