Gerard Butler's Valentine's Day Gift Had an Accidentally Deadly Double Meaning

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Gerard Butler's Valentine's Day Gift Had an Accidentally Deadly Double Meaning


By Kara Warner @karawarner
03/06/2016 AT 01:30 PM EST

When it comes to gift-giving, Gerard Butler just needs to remember it really is the thought that counts.

The London Has Fallen star tells PEOPLE he recently went in for some Valentine's Day flowers that had an unintentional double meaning.

"I actually chose them all myself," Butler, 46, says. "I went into a store and I was pulling out all these flowers and it turns out I pulled out some for romance and some for death."

He admits with a laugh, "I didn't really know what they represented, but I knew that they looked good. They smelled really nice, too."

Was the lucky recipient a special friend? A group of people?

"No, it was for one person," Butler says coyly.

The flowers weren't his only thoughtful gift of late. Butler tells PEOPLE he wowed his mother with an "incredible" NASCAR excursion.

"I just went to the Daytona 500, where I was grand marshal," he says. "I brought my mom and my stepdad and my aunt Kathleen, because they all spend a couple months in Florida. I thought maybe it would be too much for them but I then thought, 'No, you know what? I'm going to bring them.' "

His good intentions paid off – and then some.

"We had the most incredible day," he says of his grand marshal experience. "This was only four days ago and [my mom's] emailed me three times already.

"She said, 'That was the best day I ever had! You don't know how much – especially where my years are now – that I appreciate these moments.' "

That wasn't all his mom was thrilled about, Butler says.

"She was walking through the event holding my hand going, 'This is so exciting, I'm having the best time ever! You did so well with your announcement, I thought you were going to mess it up. Well done, you.' "

Butler's latest films, London Has Fallen and Gods of Egypt, are now in theaters.