Remember the faddish 1990s when one couldn't find a hot new male actor that could serve as the epitome of masculinity? Various fads came and went but it seems that masculine men and beards are not so easy to remove from the humanity's collective archetypal memory. Whether male or female, straight, bi or gay, we all feel instinctively more at ease and secure in the presence of a manly man.
Gerard Butler has become a symbol of not only a handsome actor, but also, more importantly, a rough manly man who can serve as a beacon of hope and masculinity to all those lost male souls that badly need someone who they can look up to. And it seems that the casting directors and producers at Hollywood have also gotten this bit right, so they have pretty much always cast Gerard in roles that require a significant level of toughness and machismo. I saw him for the first time in the movie "300" where he played perhaps the most courageous military leader of all times, legendary Leonidas. Although the movie itself wasn't really true to the historic facts, I liked it nevertheless because it's obvious that the main intention of the movie was to encourage men to be men and be proud of what they are. Besides, it's such a great fun to watch hot muscled and virtually naked men fighting at a battlefield.
It's interesting to know that Gerard went to a law school and was about to become a lawyer. But, since he had a habit of spending time with his buddies in pubs his law career suffered. He held a position of a trainee lawyer at an Edinburgh law firm but due to his lifestyle he often missed work. All those party antics were not quite compatible with the serious career of a lawyer. Only one week before he qualified as a lawyer he was fired.
Gerard said to himself one day "Fuck it all, I'm going to become famous!" and he moved to London to pursue his dream of becoming a famous actor. He says about this time: "When I started out, I'm not sure I was actually in it for the right reasons. I wanted very much to be famous." And he also added "I did expect to succeed and I did have faith that I would. In reality, though, it has turned out to be something very different to what I wanted. It’s the work and not the adulation that has proved to be the most fulfilling."
Perhaps so, but I bet that he still enjoys the attention that he gets wherever he appears.
He worked really hard to make his career of an actor happen and the results did not disappoint. Although he's been cast mostly in pretty stereotypical roles so far (e.g. just remember his role in stupid movie "Game") I still hope he will get some more serious roles in the future and I'm pretty sure he'll be able to pull them off just fine.
Regarding the fact that he's considered a very fine example of a masculine man, Gerard said this on one occasion: "In Scotland I'm just like a lot of other guys, but in America I'm seen as a very strong, masculine guy."
Despite his overwhelming success and popularity, Gerard has remained a totally cool, down-to-earth guy with whom you can talk normally as if he were your neighbor. Actually, I read many times that Gerard is considered to be one of the nicest people in the showbiz today.
Oh, one more thing. If you read all the way to the end of this post you certainly deserve this bit of information as well. Speaking of Gerard Butler, the webmaster of this blog (yours truly) has been told many times by various people that he looks a lot like Gerard Butler, especially as far as the face is concerned. Hmmm….
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