Gerard Butler hasn’t wreaked this much havoc on the big screen since he took on the Persian hordes in 300. He’s co-starring with Jamie Foxx in Law Abiding Citizen, playing a widower who leaves a trail of death and destruction after the man who killed his family plea bargains instead of facing trial.
Butler told Parade.com’s Jeanne Wolf how far he’d go to get revenge.
When to take a stand.
“My mom was a big fighter who would never turn the other cheek. Like, if she had an issue, she would take you on and confront you. And more than a few times she’d be on your case in public. I was always like, ‘Oh, mom, don’t. Just let it go.’ But I think there is a time to stand up for what you believe in and that’s definitely what my character does in this movie. I think it can be pretty cathartic and empowering for audiences because they know that terrorists are allowed to play by any rules and we can’t. There are certain rules that we have to abide by, and I think that gets very frustrating.”
Where he draws the line.
“You imagine anybody touching your family and you think, ‘I wouldn’t just pay them back, I’d do worse.’ I have a lot of fire in me when it comes to that. I can understand that motivation of taking your own pain and turning it into calculating revenge. I would take great joy in making them suffer in the most horrific ways. I mean, how could you possibly turn the other cheek?”
Speaking of cheeks.
“I do once again get a bare butt scene in this movie. I love to show my rear-end in roles. I’m thinking it’s becoming a bit of a habit, a bit of a tradition that I have to show my a— in every movie that I can. No, actually it was always a great moment and it speaks volumes about this character. So if there is a scene where I have to drop my drawers and I think there is a genius reason behind it, I’m ready. If I have to bare my a— again in future films, then so be it.”
His cheeky secret.
“I’ve always had a tight a—. Actually, I have kind of a skinny, tight a—. I can’t believe we’re talking about this. I did want a certain look for my body in this movie. I was kind of inspired by watching De Niro in Taxi Driver. You know, there’s that scene where he’s doing the push-ups and he’s so cut. But whenever I make those decisions to get ripped to shreds for a role, I go, ‘Oh, s—. Here we go. It’s going to be another three months of trying to diet and trying to get myself back in shape.”
Not your typical fitness buff.
“I’m very extreme, so sometimes I keep it in my head to train a lot and other times I just abandon the whole thing, especially when I travel. Sometimes I get into traveling mode and pop off to New York or Scotland and London or even into Iceland and India. When I’m doing that, it’s very difficult to keep up my fitness regime. So then I just start eating like a pig until I think, ‘OK, it’s time to swing the other way again.’ I’d say it’s a constant battle.”
Sharing the set with Jennifer Aniston and many paparazzi.
“When we did The Bounty together, there was by far the most paparazzi I’ve ever seen around a movie set. Unfortunately, for poor Jennifer, it was the photographers plus all the rumors about she and I having a romance just because we were doing a movie together. That brought even more paparazzi. They’ll take 10,000 photographs in one day just waiting for that moment where you have a hug or you look at each other a certain way, even though it’s totally innocent. And then for me, there always seemed to be time when you scratch indelicately or pick your nose or something. They’re just waiting and you don’t realize they’ve got you until you see the photo somewhere. You make that one wrong move and they go, ‘Ha, got you, you bastard.’ A lot of them are really good people, but some of them are a nightmare.”
His own journey through the justice system.
“I was pretending to be this lawyer in a very traditional Edinburgh firm, but I felt like a little Glasgow boy who was totally at sea and could barely deal with clients, let alone do complicated legal work. The day I was fired was the worst day of my life. But now I think, ‘If that hadn’t happened where would I be? Would I be alive?’ I guess I’d still be stuck in an office instead of having the greatest job in the world.”