The Toronto Star - Gerard Butler, the strong (and shirtless) Scot: Q&A

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/1298098--gerard-butler-the-strong-and-shirtless-scot-q-a


Gerard Butler, the strong (and shirtless) Scot: Q&A


Q: So what is it with you and women, anyway? How do you handle all this attention?

A: What a question! I dunno. I guess I am who I am and people have whatever reaction, which is, “He’s a rogue, he’s a charmer, he’s a dog, he’s whatever they see.” I love women. I love their company.

But really, I just love people. I love to have fun. I always try to give a lot of time to fans, kids, older people — anybody. It’s nice. I know what it meant to me when I was younger. Kenny Dalglish was a soccer player who played for Celtic and Liverpool. He called me on my 13th birthday to wish me a happy birthday and I’ve never forgotten that. So for me to give a few seconds here and there to people is . . . I know what that can mean to them.

Q: You obviously enjoy being in comedies like Playing for Keeps, The Ugly Truth and The Bounty Hunter. Yet you’re constantly being summoned by filmmakers for tough guy roles in the likes of RocknRolla, Coriolanus and Machine Gun Preacher — and you could make bank on a 300 prequel, which you turned down. Do you feel conflicted?

A: I’m drawn to comedy that comes out of claustrophobic situations, and man on the move. Men that drastically need to change to fit in. At the end of the day, a really quite poignant movie rolls in, and I definitely feel that this movie has all of that. It’s inspiring, it’s moving, and yet it’s hilarious. That’s why I wanted to do it.

Action movies are fun and there’s a lot of testosterone in there, there’s a lot of fear; you get to get out a lot of your anger, as well. But there’s something more gratifying, more soulful, in these (comic) roles, I think. Both in playing them, and the connection that you have. The change that you see in yourself and in the movie. As you watch it, as an audience member, that you can be touched. There’s nothing better than being able to laugh and cry and do everything in between.

Q: How could you turn down playing King Leonidas again?

A: I was tempted, but it wasn’t the same Leonidas as in the first movie. It was just another couple of scenes of political conversation, and that’s not the way I wanted him to be remembered. I love the project that they’re making, and I wish them the best, but it always felt like a little bit of a tenuous link trying to pull me into that movie. I didn’t really belong in there.

Q: Do you consider yourself an ex-womanizer like George?

A: I don’t know what I am. I’m just Gerry. I am who I am. “Womanizer” is such a derogatory term.

Q: How about “playboy,” then?

(Grimacing.) Playboy, lovable rogue . . . I’ve never in my life been mean or discourteous to a woman. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m explaining that very well, but without a doubt, I see me in George. It’s one of the reasons it attracted me to the role, because his journey from being a boy who is seduced by too many distractions and fame, money and women — these are the same kind of challenges you have to go through as an actor. At the end of the day, that’s what’s lovely about this story. He has to face up to certain kinds of commitments and responsibilities. I remember this guy saying to me, “You have to give up the good for the better.” And there was something kind of sad and profound in that, as well.

Q: Who said that to you?

A: It doesn’t matter. He was a wise man. Just a guy that I know who had a very good reason to be wise, and I just love that. It took a little more thought to climb into that.

Q: Do you have an acting touchstone, someone who motivated you in your career?

A: I’ve got to tell you, when I was a kid, Sean Connery was my ultimate hero. But I loved Paul Newman. I loved Newman and how dynamic he was. He did three of my favourite movies of all time: Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. I loved him in everything. He could do bad, lost, wayward, intelligent, sensitive — all of them.

Does GB remind any of you of Newman?