Obviously, I would much prefer to be reading
In Search of Lost Time than spending all of my waking hours doing back-breaking research on the internet just so you will have a diverting ten minutes during your afternoon tea break—BUT:
I am genuinely inspired today to speak about the actor, Gerard Butler. (
The Phantom of the Opera, RocknRolla,
300,
PS I Love You, The Ugly Truth,
The Bounty Hunter.)
His existence has come entirely out of the blue for me; until a day ago, I honestly had no idea who he was. But by sheer coincidence, three different people mentioned him to me over the weekend, so I felt like it was my duty to educate myself on this Scottish hulk of a man.
And educate myself I did. I went straight to his profiles at
Hello Magazine and
Wikipedia and found out he has a totally fascinating background! So if you want to know how to arrest my attention from Proust for a record twelve minutes, this is the sort of fascinating career trajectory that will do it.
Gerard Butler's Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Acting Career
1. Hate your office job
Did you know that Butler was a lawyer before he became an actor? But, poignantly, he says: "It just wasn't me. I never felt fulfilled. I partied a lot and abused the privileges of my firm."
Sounds like he really hated it. "I hated it." he confirms in the same interview. "I hated every minute of it."
2. Hate your office job so much you can't speak
Hello Magazine is like a treasure trove of colourful anecdotes describing those early days when he hated his job a a lawyer. To wit: as soon as Gerry realised how passionately he hated his job:
The head of the firm asked him for one good reason why he shouldn't fire him.
Unable to come up with an adequate response, Gerard promptly tendered his resignation and bid farewell.
I love this visual. I can see him packing all his things up in a little knapsack and putting it on the end of a stick like Huckleberry Finn before heading straight to that mythical place that dissatisfied, defecting lawyers always go: the Edinburgh Festival.
3. Get started without delay on your new career
Hello tells me that the very same evening he bade farewell to the law firm, he attended an Edinburgh Festival production of
Trainspotting! Way to move swiftly!
Apparently, he was "so moved" by the performance, he headed straight to London to try his luck at acting!
4. This next bit sounds fabricated but let's go with it anyway
So, exactly one year later he was BACK at the Edinburgh Festival, but this time he was actually IN a production
Trainspotting! Playing the role of Renton! Another production of
Trainspotting! The year after the other one!
I have trouble believing they did back-to-back productions of
Trainspotting two years in a row at the Edinburgh Festival, but I guess I just don't "get" how popular
Trainspotting truly is in Scotland!
5. Get awarded a Certificate of Bravery
Once Gerry had found his calling, he swiftly moved into film, and was immediately awarded something even better than an Oscar. Wikipedia retells this nail-biting story better than I ever could:
While filming, Mrs. Brown
(1997), in Scotland, he was enjoying a picnic with his mother, near the River Tay, when they heard the shouts of a young boy who had been swimming with a friend who was in some trouble.
Butler jumped in and saved the young boy from drowning for which he received a Certificate of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society.
Wow. Just. Wow.
6. Popping out of a coffin will get you noticed by Joel Schumacher
A few years later, when director Schumacher saw him in the film
Dracula 2000, he knew he wanted Butler as his Phantom in
Phantom of the Opera "as soon as Gerry popped out of the coffin," says Joel.
I included that quote simply because I loved it.
7. Be Scottish
Gerry credits his compelling performance as the Phantom of the Opera on his ability to relate to the character's hardships and pain—because he's from Scotland.
"We have a lot more going on, to be honest, than what your average American experiences in his life, and therefore we have more to say in cinematic terms," he says.
I guess I, too, would have a more intense emotional palette from which to draw on if I also had to watch
Trainspotting every freakin' year on stage like those Scots seem to do.
8. Be voted number one ‘Fantasy Breakdown Recovery Man’.
Just yesterday, the results of a survey by a car insurance company for women came through. Out of 1,200 customers, 31% chose Gerry as their favourite Fantasy Breakdown Recovery Man.
Rebecca Corbett, marketing manager at Diva Insurance
said, “Breaking down on the motorway is most women’s worst nightmare, but if Gerard Butler was to come to the rescue then it would probably be a dream come true.”
9. Have interesting scandals
This is probably the best thing I found out about Gerard Butler in all my hours of research. Here we have Gerry photographed as he randomly
pashes a busker on Venice Beach, following a Haiti benefit about a month ago.
See how in the midst of a swooning pash, the busker never loses her delicate hold on her violin?! Incredible. From a
gossip report comes this descriptive account:
Gerard and his pals were walking the beach when a violinist recognised him and called him over. The two started chatting and then they started kissing, right there in the middle of the street. For seemingly no reason.
After the smooches were over, Gerard tossed a few bucks in her case and went home.
10. Attract hot ladies like pollen attracts honey bees
But it's not just violinist buskers who catch Butler's attention. Although he is currently "planning a
trial marriage" with his
The Bounty Hunter co-star Jennifer Aniston (whose 41st birthday he just attended in Mexico—warning: IT MAY HAVE IN FACT JUST BEEN A
PUBLICITY STUNT), he nevertheless flew to Rio last week to hang out with Nicole Scherziger from Pussycat Dolls.
I'm torn by this knowledge and I don't know what's true or not. Obviously, I want Jen to find happiness at last with a man who truly loves her, but after getting to know Gerry pretty well this morning, I also just want him to run off with that lovely violinist busker.
I will be watching his career with great interest over the coming weeks to see what happens.