[b]The Scottish Actor Readies for His Close-up as Hollywood’s Latest Action Star[/b]
There are signs that 300 will do for Gerard Butler this spring what Casino Royale did for Daniel Craig last fall – namely elevate a versatile UK actor to worldwide stardom. The buzz on the Internet is huge, response to early screenings has been overwhelming, advance ticket sales are surging and early user reviews on Fandango are calling it a “Must Go!”
It’s no wonder. Although there has already been a Hollywood movie (1962’s The 300 Spartans) about the epic battle between 300 Greeks and hundreds of thousands of Persians in 480 B.C., Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel is like nothing you’ve ever seen. And as the bare-chested Spartan king, Leonidas, the 37-year-old Scottish born Butler steps out from behind the mask he wore in The Phantom of the Opera and his supporting role in Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2 to claim a piece of action movie history. During a recent interview, the former stage actor talked about how he prepared for the epic movie, which was shot entirely in front of green screens on soundstages in Montreal, Canada.
Question: What was your training regimen for 300?
Gerard Butler: Well, first of all, I remember the unsolicited comments from people that I didn’t even know, when I was on holiday in Italy, about me being fat. So I guess I had a bit of work to do. My frame’s always been pretty good since the days of Attila [a 2001 British TV movie] and I’ve been fortunate that various jobs have required me to do a lot of physical things. But when I started training for this, I was probably at one of my lowest [states], so I felt like I had a mountain to climb. In fact, I did have a mountain to climb. I think I trained harder for this one than I did for any other role.
Q: Did you sustain any injuries during the shoot?
Butler: A few. I have a scar on my knuckle from when I tried to spear somebody and ended up punching the shield. I’ve got a bunch of bruises. I pulled my hip flexor. I’ve got tendonitis on both my elbows and shoulders. I’ve gone through a lot in this film. After a couple months, it really starts to take its toll.
I think I overdid my training at the start. That’s what I do. I dive into these things and I don’t always judge it very well. But I’m glad now: I imagine how our king would be feeling, because I’m sure he’s had a few bumps and bruises in battles. To me, it’s all part of the experience.
Q: What other factors guided your physical preparation?
Butler: I was also concerned with fitting the [image] I felt the King needed. When you take a look at the way [King] Leonidas has to braid his hair, it requires a big body underneath that hair. No matter how strong I was, it wasn’t going to work if you saw a skinny body underneath this hair, so I knew I had to get big and strong as well.
The first couple of months, I was training six hours a day because I was also doing two hours of sword fighting in this crazy place out in the Valley in LA with no air conditioning. That was a good way to lose weight because I sweat so much there! Then I would train with the movie trainer and then I would train with my own trainer. It’s as much mental endurance as physical endurance. It’s taken its toll on my body I have to say. I really feel it.
Q: Did you consult the source graphic novel by Frank Miller much?
Butler: Absolutely, I spent a lot of time looking at the comic and so did [director] Zach [Snyder]. There are certain moments in the graphic novel where the king has such incredible stances or positions that we’ve tried to emulate in the film. I often found myself referring to the book even when it was not something we were trying to emulate, just to get a feeling of the mood Leonidas was in.
But you’ve got to temper it with the fact that if you take certain things too far, it would just look ridiculous. You try to find that fine line between believability and the fantasy elements of the piece. It’s all hyper-real – and real at the same time. It’s finding that fine line between this man’s absolute brutality – and the fact that he’s a hero who pushes the definition of “hero” to the edge.
Sometimes you might feel that the Spartans are the bad guys because we kick so much butt the whole way through the movie. We’re not just killing them; we love it. This is what we were born and bred to do. At the same time, remember that we didn’t start [this] war. We were being attacked. Now we are going to make it as bloody and as much fun as possible, because this is what we live for.
Q: Was it fun running around battling with all those swords and shields?
Butler: It’s great, but it’s hard as well. My back, legs and shoulders were killing me, because you’re carrying the shield and you’re slashing with the sword. You have a big cape, and after twelve hours, it really starts to feel heavy on you.
I worked with the best stuntmen I’ve ever worked with. Not just in terms of their incredible talent, but in terms of how much they give you of their souls and how encouraging they are, how patient they are. However good I [may] look on screen, they make me look ten times better.
Q: Were you self-conscious at all about wearing a codpiece?
Butler: I was at the start. The first time I tried it on, I had to walk past a lot of the crew who hadn’t really seen anybody dressed like this yet. I was dressed in a pair of trainer’s black socks and a leather codpiece, with nothing else on. The crew was watching me walk past and I could see the smiles on their face, and I thought, ‘Is it going to be months of this?!’ But the funny thing is, eventually they didn’t blink an eye.
Q: What’s it like working on a set where it’s basically a green screen, with not much else there?
Butler: It’s definitely challenging. In something like the movie of The Phantom of the Opera, you had the theatre setting. You were surrounded by the dancers and all the crowds. I had my lair downstairs where there were elements to look at, to feel, touch and smell. Whereas here, sometimes you’re just standing next to one false rock, and you’re supposed to be looking at an army of a million that isn’t there. You’re talking to an army of 300 that might only be made up of about 10 guys at that point.
Q: Was there a certain element of theatricality to the experience of filming 300?
Butler: It did often feel like theatre. The only difference is that in theatre, you get to tell the story from the start. So when you’re in the middle of it, you’re not really thinking about [the experience], you’re just there. You don’t even have to think about where you are, and I miss that. That’s a big difference between the theatre and film.
I was always checking that nice balance between the comic book character and the theatrical elements of 300, and not pushing it too much either way. It’s what’s fascinating about this project. Sometimes I would go, ‘I have no idea what we’re making here.’ But I also knew we were making something that has never been seen before.
For a list of other recent Behind the Screens columns, click here.