Bio
Gerard Butler is a Scottish actor best known for his roles as King Leonidas in the 2006 feature film 300, and as The Phantom in the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera.
Gerard was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Margaret and Edward Butler. His parents divorced when he was a small child and he and his siblings were raised by their mother Margaret who later remarried.
He had no contact with his father Edward until he was sixteen years old. His father passed away when Gerard was in his early twenties . Gerard went on to attend Glasgow University where he studied to be a lawyer.
His acting career began when he was approached in a London coffee shop by actor Steven Berkoff (who later appeared alongside Butler in Attila), who gave him a stage role in the play Coriolanus. He decided to give up law school for acting.
He was later cast as Ewan McGregor's character Renton in the stage adaptation of the movie Trainspotting (1996). His debut movie role was as Billy Connolly's younger brother in the movie Mrs. Brown (1997).
While filming a movie in Scotland, he was enjoying a picnic with his mother near the River Tay, when they heard the shouts of a young boy who was in some trouble whilst swimming. Gerard jumped in and saved the young boy from drowning.
He received a "Certificate of Bravery" from the Royal Humane Society. He felt he only did what anyone in the situation would have done.
His movie career continued with small roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy (1998).
In 2000, he was cast in his breakthrough roles - Attila the Hun in the USA Network made-for-TV movie Attila, which aired in 2001.
He was then cast as the the lead in Dracula 2000. Since then he has appeared in a number of movies including Reign of Fire, Timeline, Phantom of the Opera, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Butterfly on a Wheel.