The life-journey of Gerard Butler and some interesting facts

Gerard Butler is back in the news and this time as the professional hitman named Bob Viddick. The 2021 release CopShop saw Gerard Butler play Bob Viddick who gets himself arrested on a petty charge so that he can be in the same police station where his target is jailed.

While the movie CopShop gathered reasonable success at the box office, Gerard Butler’s role was very well appreciated by the audience.

Much before playing Bob Viddick, Gerard Butler had established himself as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. How did a qualified lawyer who did not even act in local theatre or school, end up becoming such a formidable actor?

Gerard Butler is the youngest of three siblings and was born in Glasgow. He was quite young when the family shifted to Montreal, Quebec. But soon his parents were divorced and Gerard returned to Scotland with his mother.
He was a very bright student in school and even went on to become his High School’s Head boy. His academic brilliance eventually won him a seat at the coveted University of Glasgow School of Law. He even became the President of the University’s Law Society. But as luck would have it, Gerard Butler was not destined to be a lawyer!

In his final year, he took a break from law school and decided to explore the world. He landed at Venice Beach, California and took odd jobs to stay afloat. But just like many young men, he took to heavy drinking and even got in trouble with the authorities in California. But soon, he turned sober and returned to Scotland and completed his Degree.

Upon obtaining his degree, Gerard Butler started working with a law firm in Edinburgh. But just a week before he would qualify as a lawyer, his firm fired him. This left him totally disenchanted with his law profession and soon shifted to London to be with one of his childhood friends who worked as a casting director.

One day his friend took Gerard along to meet director Steven Berkoff who was auditioning for his play Coriolanus. Gerard auditioned for the part and left Steven Berkoff highly impressed, thus earning his first acting assignment. He was 27 at that time.

When he turned 30, he decided to move to Los Angeles and try his luck with Hollywood. Soon he got small roles in movies like Dracula 2000, Tomb Raider 2, Dear Frankie and Phantom of the Opera (he even learnt to sing for this movie).

His big break came in the year 2006 with the movie 300 where Gerard Butler played the character of King Leonidas. The movie proved to be a blockbuster and earned him space in Hollywood’s first row.

In 2013, he starred in another blockbuster Olympus Has Fallen as Secret Service agent Mike Banning. He enacted the same character in London Has Fallen (2016) and Angel Has Fallen (2019). The movie franchise received good critical reviews as well as performing well at the box office.

Though he has not received any formal education in singing, Gerard Butler can sing well and was also the lead vocalist for a band named Speed in his college days.

In 1997, while filming for the movie Mrs. Brown along with Judy Dench, Gerard Butler jumped in a raging river to save the life of a 14-year-old boy. For this brave act, he was awarded the Certificate of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society of Scotland.

If we go by the critical reviews and viewer’s opinions, then Gerard Butler’s role as Bob Viddick in CopShop was much appreciated. This means that we can expect Bob Viddick to appear again anytime soon. Also, given the fact that Gerard Butler was also the co-producer of CopShop, this does not seem to be a distant possibility at all!