Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker, of Irish origin. He spent his early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, before returning to Paisley, where he was raised with his older brother and sister by their mother, who later remarried after their parents' divorce. Butler had no contact with his father between the ages of two and 16, after which they became close, but his father passed away when Butler was in his early 20s.
Butler attended Glasgow University, where he studied law and was president of the law society due to his outgoing personality and social skills. He was approached by actor Steven Berkoff in a London coffee shop, who offered him a role in a stage production of "Coriolanus," which led Butler to abandon his law career for acting.
Butler's film debut was in Mrs. Brown (1997),where he played Billy Connolly's younger brother. While filming in Scotland, he saved a young boy from drowning in the River Tay and received a Certificate of Bravery from the Royal Humane Society. He continued to appear in small roles, including the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy (1998).
Breakthrough roles came in 2000 with Attila the Hun in the USA Network mini-series Attila (2001) and Dracula 2000 (2000). Butler's performances garnered him a fan base and led to appearances in Reign of Fire (2002),Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003),Timeline (2003),and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
In 2006, Butler starred as King Leonidas in the Warner Bros. production 300 (2006),based on the Frank Miller graphic novel. He went on to appear in Shattered (2007),P.S. I Love You (2007),Nim's Island (2008),RocknRolla (2008),Gamer (2009),The Ugly Truth (2009),The Bounty Hunter (2010),How to Train Your Dragon (2010),Chasing Mavericks (2012),and Olympus Has Fallen (2013).
Recent films include Gods of Egypt (2016),Geostorm (2017),Den of Thieves (2018),The Vanishing (2018),and Hunter Killer (2018).
