Gerard Butler "Embraces" Jennifer Aniston Rumors

Gerard Butler 'Embraces' Jennifer Aniston Rumors

by Jeanne Wolf

Gerard Butler is learning how to handle the truth. Rumors that he and Jennifer Aniston are an item have forced him to confront personal questions about his intimate relationships.

His character in The Ugly Truth comes off as blunt and so full of himself that he wouldn't have any trouble bragging about his conquests. But Butler admitted to Parade.com's Jeanne Wolf that sometimes, no matter how you answer, you can't win.

When in doubt, play the clown.
"That's how I live my life. Conan asked me about Aniston, who is my co-star in the movie I'm making now, and I just said, 'Yeah, we're getting married. What the hell.' Tell a joke, that's my technique. But, I'm careful to also say that I'm marrying Cameron Diaz and maybe Joan Rivers. I like to tell everyone I'm going to be a busy guy. I learned as a kid how to stay out of trouble: make it funny."

No kidding, just tell us!
"It's a pretty unfair role. The second someone makes something up, you're stuck with it. If you deny it, people think, 'The lady doth protest too much.' So I've discovered you have to embrace the rumor. Take it all the way just to kind of show how ridiculous the whole thing is. Mike, my character, would probably say, 'Just tell them it's true.' So I learned something from him."

Can you spill about Katherine Heigl, too?
"Oh, just because we went back to our trailer and made out after the dancing scene? Truthfully, one time I was supposed to play with Katherine's hair and I kept forgetting my lines. I was so nervous that I grabbed her breast. Afterwards, all I could do is say 'I'm sorry.' Yeah."

Lessons learned.
"I'm not the same as my character, but I agree with the idea behind the movie. Men like naughty women. But if we could meet somewhere in the middle, that we all have a bit of naughtiness but a niceness as well. No doubt about it, I always had this line from when I was younger, 'There's nothing like a bad ass to make a girl's heart beat faster.' I think it holds very true. But, at the end of the day, that's only going to last so long. If you're going to get into a full-blown relationship, there has to be something more to sustain it and enrich it."

So the whole truth, at all times?
"No, absolutely not. I think a woman is never a thousand percent honest with a man. And I think the same with men. If we were to be, you know, we might do each other more harm. If I'm talking to a woman and another one walks by and I turn my head and say, 'Hey, she's really pretty,' a woman may not appreciate that. You have to allow for an element of intrigue, which keeps it spiced up. Keep them guessing a little bit. I don't like the idea of games. It's not something you should have to play at. I think it's nice when that naturally happens with your partner."

The one obvious thing on men's minds.
"That's what the character says, but I don't think so. I think maybe in my more drunken moments I've said things like that. I think especially being a Scotsman, we are way more frank. I think we call people a lot more on their bullsh*t. We are more outrageous with what we say. Which is why, I think, that I could take on this role of Mike Chadway. But I wouldn't say that I have those rules for myself. I mean, this guy sells his sexist beliefs as his profession, you know, these ideas and these values. And, much as they're raunchy and funny and playful, it's not how I think."