Iconic Concierge Winter 2022/23

GERARD JAMES BUTLER was born
on November 13, 1969, in Paisley,
Renfrewshire, Scotland, to Margaret
and Edward Butler. His family is of Irish
origin and moved to Montreal, Quebec
when he was six months old. When
his parents’ marriage broke down, his
mother left Canada and returned to
Scotland with Gerard, where she would
raise him, his older brother and his
sister in his hometown of Paisley.
Butler did not see his father again
until he was 16 but became close after.
When Gerard was 22, his father got
diagnosed with cancer and when he
passed away just a few years later,
the actor is quoted to have said that
he “had gone from a 16-year-old who
couldn’t wait to grasp life to a 22-yearold
who didn’t care if he died in his
sleep.”
Butler went on to study law at
Glasgow University, and became
president of the school’s law society,
mainly because of his personality and
social skills. He took a year off to live
in California, working in different jobs
and describing himself as “a bit out of
control”, before returning to Scotland
to finish his final year at law school.
He took a position as a trainee lawyer
at an Edinburgh law firm but would
miss work frequently due to staying out
late. Butler got fired and at age 25, he
moved to London to “become famous.”
Working as a waiter, telemarketer
and even a toy demonstrator, his first
step into an acting career was a role in
a stage production of Coriolanus.
At age 27, it was Butler’s first
professional acting job and would be
followed by the part of Renton in a
theatre adaptation of Trainspotting at
photo: © DFree
the Edinburgh Festival.
Gerard Butler’s film debut started
in 1997 in Mrs Brown but he received
honours for something very different:
While at location in Scotland, he
saw a young boy in a river in some
trouble, jumped in and saved him from
drowning. He received a Certificate of
Bravery from the Royal Humane Society.
His film career continued with
small roles, including the James Bond
movie, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997),
and Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the
Mummy (1998). The new millennium
then brought the breakthrough roles
with Attila the Hun in the American
TV miniseries, Attila (2001) and after
seeing a clip of his portrayal of “Attila”,
producers decided to cast him as
Dracula in Dracula 2000 (2000). Both
roles put Butler on the map and gave
him a first and growing fan base.
Reign of Fire (2002) and Lara Croft
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003),
alongside Angelina Jolie, followed by
the portrayal of Andre Marek in the bigscreen
adaptation of Michael Crichton’s
novel, Timeline (2003), which gave him
the next attention.
The year after, in 2004, Gerard
Butler was surprised when director
Joel Schumacher thought of him as the
title character in the movie adaption
of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical,
Phantom of the Opera. Butler had no
musical experience other than singing
in a rock band while he was studying
but immediately began taking singing
lessons with a coach. The movie received
mixed reviews but brought Gerard
Butler much international attention and
a nomination for a Satellite Award for
Best Actor.
Other projects followed,
including Dear Frankie (2005),
The Game of Their Lives (2005)
and Beowulf & Grendel (2005).
In 2006, Butler starred in the
lead role of what is often described
as his true breakthrough film, 300
(2006). Butler trained every day
for four months in the most intense
workout regimen of his life, giving
him an incredible physique prior to
the film’s shooting. The same year,
he added Shattered (2007), costarring
Pierce Brosnan and Maria
Bello, and the romantic comedy
P.S. I Love You (2007), with
Academy Award-winner Hilary
Swank, to his portfolio. Other
noteworthy productions included
“I love to spend
a lot of time on
my own. I can
seriously go into
my own head and
often love to let
myself travel where
I don’t know
where I’m going.”
Nim’s Island and RocknRolla, both in
2008, as well as 2009’s Gamer, The
Ugly Truth, and Law Abiding Citizen,
which he also co-produced.
A household name in Hollywood
by now, Gerard Butler appeared on
many “world’s hottest men” lists but
concentrated on his movie career and
added several well-received films in
the coming years, including the actioncomedy
The Bounty Hunter (2010) with
Jennifer Aniston, Playing for Keeps
(2011), Chasing Mavericks (2012) and
Olympus Has Fallen (2013). He lend his
voice for a second time to the animated
film How to Train Your Dragon
(The Hidden World) and starred in
the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen,
London Has Fallen (opposite Morgan
Freeman), both in 2017. He reprised
the role of United States Secret Service
agent Mike Banning a third time in
the Has Fallen film series in 2019 with
Angel Has Fallen, before the pandemic
only saw one film getting released in
each 2020 (Greenland) and 2021
(Copshop). Last Seen Alive, which he
also produced, was Butler’s only movie
in 2022 and streamed on Netflix. It was
received rather poorly. In 2023, Butler
will be seen in the action-thriller Plane,
the sports comedy-drama film All-Star
Weekend, directed by Jamie Foxx, and
Kandahar.
In Private Life
Concerned that he had become too
reliant on prescribed pain medication
after a surfing accident, Gerard Butler
completed a course of treatment for
substance abuse of painkillers at a
rehabilitation facility in 2012 and no
longer drinks alcohol.
Since late 2011, he has divided his
time between Los Angeles and Glasgow.
As of this writing, Butler seems to be in
a relationship with his longtime off-andon
girlfriend, Morgan Brown.
20 ICONIC CONCIERGE