Gerard Butler: Playing for Celtic in charity match was best moment of my life

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/2011/11/05/gerard-butler-playing-for-celtic-in-charity-match-was-best-moment-of-my-life-86908-23539765/

HOLLYWOOD star Gerard Butler revealed yesterday that playing for Celtic topped any of his experiences as an A-list actor.

The lifelong Hoops fan turned out for his heroes in a charity match at Parkhead against Man Utd in August, which Celtic won 5-2. Paisley-born Gerard, 41, said: "I've had some amazing things happen to me - but that was the best.

"I had the biggest, silliest smile. It made all that hard work worth it to be standing there and then kicking off with Henrik Larsson."

Gerard also talked about his battle with alcoholism.

He hit the bottle while studying law at Glasgow University and was later fired by a top legal firm.

Gerard, teetotal for more than 10 years, said: "I'd gone from a 16-year-old who couldn't wait to grasp life to a 22-year-old who didn't care if he died in his sleep."

Video interview at link:

http://entertainment.stv.tv/film/277717-gerard-butler-playing-for-celtic-was-best-experience-of-my-life/

Gerard Butler: playing for Celtic was best experience of my life

Talking to STV about new movie Machine Gun Preacher, Scottish star Gerard Butler also revealed that donning the Hoops to play a charity match against Manchester United at Parkhead beats any of his experiences from being a Hollywood star.

Talking to STV about new movie Machine Gun Preacher, Scottish star Gerard Butler also revealed that donning the Hoops to play a charity match against Manchester United at Parkhead beats any of his experiences from being a Hollywood star.

Machine Gun Preacher, which came out in cinemas on Wednesday, is the unlikely true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been forced to become soldiers. (Watch trailer here)

Speaking to STV’s Grant Lauchlan, who started off by mentioning what an unlikely character it is, Gerard said: “My reaction was the same as you.

“One, what an amazing story in the first place – a story that I was very impacted by, very moved by. Then: it’s true, and I thought ‘How great to tell that story and have other people feel the same’.

“Then on top of that there is that part of me that’s like ‘I want to show people I can act as well’.”

He added: “You do make your name with different things, so you do the romcom – which is a lot of fun as well, you make your name – but you know people are left going ‘He’s romcom guy’, they’ve got short memories. It’s like ‘Oh, he’s action guy’, ‘Oh, he’s romcom guy’.

“So it felt like a chance. Last year I did a Shakespeare movie with Ralph Fiennes, and then I did this – so least year was my movie for going bankrupt, but maybe showing ‘Yeah, I can do something’.”

So how was it meeting Childers in real life? Gerard explained: “Before I met him I’d never heard so many descriptions of a man, so when I met him I turned up going: ‘Who am I going to meet here?’

“In actual fact he was very chilled and laidback, because he was well aware of all these stories which go on about him.

“But I met a man who was incredibly charismatic. What I really loved was the twinkle he had in his eye. He had a lot of humour, and I think you have to, when you’ve been through the craziness that he’s been through.

“There’s a strength, and you never know what you’re going to get next with him, because there is a violence in him. But then he starts talking about some of the things he’s been through, and you experience such humanity.

“He’ll talk about a child that perhaps he met, who had had to kill a bunch of people, and he starts crying, and you see the aching that he has in his soul. Or the guilt he has from his days as a drug dealer. And then there’s that part of him that’s blinded by God, where he’s doing no wrong, not what he’s doing now.”

The movie has had a profound impact on him – as did his experience in August, when the lifelong Celtic fan played for his side in a ‘legends’ charity match against Manchester United at Parkhead, which the home team won 5-2.

He laughed: “I’ve got to tell you, living out in Hollywood and people going ‘Oh, wow, living in Hollywood’ – and I’ve had some amazing things happen to me – but that was the best. No joke.

“I actually ask myself: I can understand that it would be amazing, but to be standing there... I had the biggest, silliest smile. I was like ‘Be cool’, but I couldn’t. It made all that hard work worth it to be standing there, and then to be kicking off with Henrik Larsson.”
• Machine Gun Preacher is now out in cinemas.