Orange County Register Interview - Gerard Butler faced death while filming surfing movie

http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/surfers-375534-movie-wave.html

Gerard Butler faced death while filming surfing movieScottish actor stars as surfing mentor to young phenom in ‘Chasing Mavericks,’ opening Friday.

BY BARRY KOLTNOW / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Robert De Niro gained 60 pounds for his art in "Raging Bull."
Christian Bale lost 60 pounds for his art in "The Machinist."
Dustin Hoffman wore a dress for his art in "Tootsie"

There may come a day when all three Oscar winners pause to acknowledge the sacrifice Gerard Butler almost made for his art in the film "Chasing Mavericks," which opens Friday.

The 42-year-old Scottish actor came close to giving his life for his art while playing Frosty Hesson, the real-life mentor of teenage surfing phenom Jay Moriarity, who was the youngest surfer to ride the legendary surf break known as Mavericks in Northern California.

Normally, producers and movie studios are so protective of their stars – because one accident can shut down production and cost hundreds of jobs and millions in lost revenue – that they won't allow actors anywhere near a dangerous situation. That's why Hollywood invented stuntmen.

Well, somebody must have been asleep at the wheel on this particular day, when Butler and several professional surfers who worked on the film got caught in a set of unusually large waves that overwhelmed the men and dragged Butler under the surface for enough time for him to believe that he was about to die.
It is doubtful that filming on "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Ugly Truth" and "Law Abiding Citizen," three of Butler's earlier films, ever got this dangerous.

Butler, who next will star as a retired soccer star in "Playing for Keeps" (Dec. 7), explains what he was thinking as he prepared to die under that giant wave, what he sees as the chief differences between regular surfers and big-wave surfers and what, if anything, he has in common with Annette Funicello.

Butler didn't set out to be an actor in his native Scotland. In fact, he studied law in Glasgow, but his career path was diverted when he realized that it was more fun to play a lawyer than it was to be a lawyer.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: I'm not sure if this is true but I have heard that you underwent rigorous training for this movie similar to the training Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello received for "Beach Blanket Bingo?"

GERARD BUTLER: (A long, awkward, blank stare).

Q. That was a joke, Gerry.

A. (laughing) I thought it was a joke, but you seemed so serious.

Q. That's what made it a good joke.

A. You're right. It was a great joke (laughs again). It was a good start to the interview. Now I know not to take it all so seriously.

Q. I would imagine that as you were being pulled underwater by that giant wave, you wished you were in one of those old "Beach Party" movies where the actors stood in front of a screen and only pretended to be surfing?

A. I wish.

Q. Seriously?

A. Not really. I had such a fascination with what happened to these guys in situations like this. I asked all the surfers who worked on the film about that moment when you are underwater and struggling, and you know you're in trouble. That was one of the things that attracted me to the movie. You appreciate how dangerous and scary it is, and how much training and courage is required by these guys. And then suddenly, it's happening to you.

Q. Which brings me to the question of what the heck you were doing on that wave? Did you forget that you were an actor, and that you are supposed to act?

A. That's a very good question. I was making a movie about Mavericks, and I wanted to go out and see if I could go on a couple of big waves.

Q. Just like that?

A. Well, it wasn't as crazy as it sounds. The week before, we started out gingerly, staying on the side of the waves and watching. We'd get a little closer and closer. On this day, we were shooting me coming out over the waves, and I got a little cocky. You get lulled into a little false sense of security, and then you combine that with this massive set of waves that came in unexpectedly. We happened to be at the wrong place.

Q. Was there no way to get out of the way of the waves by paddling?

A. No, there was no way. Nobody got out of it. I was with three other guys and we all got taken down. They went down better than I did.

Q. What does that mean?

A. The wave crashed down on itself, and I was in the middle of it. I seemed to stay down, even after the other guys came up.

Q. Did you believe you were going to die?

A. I did. I thought I was going to die.

Q. What were your thoughts when you thought you were about to die?

A. There was a scene we went through a few days before that when we were talking about what happens when you're pulled down like that. My character is explaining to the Jay character what you should do when you get sucked down into that cauldron and pushed toward the bone yard (rocks). The key to that speech is that if you panic, you die. It's one of the main themes of the movie; that it's OK to be scared, but it's what you do with that fear. So, I'm underwater and I remember that I can't give in to the temptation of breathing in and letting go. It's all you want to do because your lungs are burning and you just want to let go.

Q. How did you get out of it?

A. I finally came up the first time and there was no one there to get me, and then I got hit by the second wave in the set and went down again. Then I came up a second time, and I got hit by the third wave.

Q. While all this was happening, you maintained logical thought and remembered what you had learned?

A. That's what saved me. I was amazed that while I was terrified, I managed to stay relatively calm. I knew this was the moment. I had to hold on. Then, I started thinking that maybe I wouldn't make it. And then I thought that maybe they'd have to revive me on the other side. The guy who filmed that scene had to be revived three times so I knew that was possible.

Q. I'm still shocked why some producer didn't prevent you from doing this?

A. In hindsight, that's probably true (laughs). But you get caught up in the moment, but I'm to blame more than anyone because I kept pushing for us to get into it. And I paid the price.

Q. Did you ever get to actually ride one of those big waves?

A. I did the week before. I rode a few. It was one of the most amazing days I've ever had, to have the professional surfers around me congratulate me on doing it.

Q. Is there a difference between regular surfers and big-wave surfers?

A. They're all ultimately surfers, but there is a difference. While there is a craziness to the big-wave surfers, most of the ones I worked with are a little older so they have some wits about them. They may have once been adrenalin junkies, but not anymore. There is a coolness to them. You might see the boasting and the egos among the regular surfers, but these big-wave riders were just plain cool.

Q. I don't want to give too much away but I suspect that we as movie-goers are supposed to take away from the movie that this young man lived life to the fullest, and that his life should be celebrated for that reason. But for those of us who live less daredevil lives, this also could be seen as a cautionary tale. What kind of a film do you see – inspirational or cautionary?

A. I think it's both. We're not trying to make you feel any particular way.

Q. Getting back to my original question, I assume you trained more than Frankie and Annette trained for their surfing movies?

A. It was very intense training. When you train for fight scenes in an action movie, there are ways to cheat. In a surfing movie like this, you bloody well have to learn to surf, and that's not easy. And then to learn how to surf big waves is a whole other matter. We trained for about nine months, although I was doing other things during that time, including a press tour for another movie. But I'd keep returning to the water to surf. It was important to make it look real.

Q. Not like Frankie and Annette?

A. Not like Frankie and Annette.