Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with minor roles in productions such as Mrs Brown (1997), the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Tale of the Mummy (1998). In 2000, he starred as Count Dracula in the gothic horror film Dracula 2000. He played Attila the Hun in the miniseries Attila (2001), then appeared in the films Reign of Fire (2002) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003) before starring in the science fiction film Timeline (2003). He played Erik, The Phantom in Joel Schumacher's 2004 musical The Phantom of the Opera. Butler gained wider recognition for portraying King Leonidas in Zack Snyder's fantasy war film 300 (2007). In 2010, he began lending his voice to the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Also in the 2010s, he portrayed a Secret Service agent in the action thriller Has Fallen film series, played military leader Tullus Aufidius in the 2011 film Coriolanus, and Sam Childers in the 2011 action biopic Machine Gun Preacher. Butler had further action film roles in Geostorm (2017), Den of Thieves (2018), Greenland (2020), and Plane (2023).

Filmography

• 2027How to Train Your Dragon 2 — Stoick
• 2026Greenland 2: Migration — John Garrity, Producer
• 2026In the Hand of Dante — Louie / Pope Bonifacio
• 2026Street Smart — Executive Producer
• 2025Den of Thieves 2: Pantera — Nicholas 'Big Nick' O'Brien, Producer
• 2025How to Train Your Dragon — Stoick
• ARK: The Animated Series — Gaius Marcellus Nerva (voice), Executive Producer
• Has Fallen — Executive Producer
• 2024The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland — St. Nick (voice), Executive Producer
• 2023Kandahar — Tom Harris, Producer
• 2023Plane — Brodie Torrance, Producer
• 2023The Bricklayer — Producer
• 2022Last Seen Alive — Will Spann, Producer
• 2021Copshop — Bob Viddick, Producer
• 2020Greenland — John Garrity, Producer
• 2020Love Reaches Everywhere
• 2019Angel Has Fallen — Mike Banning, Producer
• 2019How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming — Stoick (voice)
• 2019How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World — Stoick (voice)
• 2019The Vanishing — James, Producer
• 2019Them That Follow — Producer
• 2018Den of Thieves — 'Big Nick' O'Brien, Producer
• 2018Hunter Killer — Captain Joe Glass, Producer
• 2017Geostorm — Jake Lawson
• 2016A Family Man — Dane Jensen, Producer
• 2016Gods of Egypt — Set
• 2016London Has Fallen — Mike Banning, Producer
• 2015Septembers of Shiraz — Producer
• 2014How to Train Your Dragon 2 — Stoick (voice)
• 2013Movie 43 — Leprechaun 1 & 2 (segment "Happy Birthday")
• 2013Olympus Has Fallen — Mike Banning, Producer
• The Frame — King Leonidas
• 2012Chasing Mavericks — Frosty Hesson, Executive Producer
• 2012Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen — (archive footage)
• 2012Playing for Keeps — George, Producer
• 2011Coriolanus — Tullus Aufidius
• 2011Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury — Stoick the Vast (voice)
• 2011Machine Gun Preacher — Sam Childers, Executive Producer
• 2011Saturday Night Live: The Best of '09/'10
• 2010How to Train Your Dragon — Stoick (voice)
• 2010Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon — Stoick (voice)
• 2010The Bounty Hunter — Milo Boyd
• 2009Gamer — Kable
• 2009Law Abiding Citizen — Clyde Alexander Shelton, Producer
• 2009Tales of the Black Freighter — The Mariner (voice)
• 2009The Ugly Truth — Mike Chadway
• 2008Nim's Island — Jack Rusoe / Alex Rover
• 2008RocknRolla — One-Two
• 2007300 — King Leonidas
• 2007Butterfly on a Wheel — Neil Randall
• 2007Guilty Hearts — Peter
• 2007P.S. I Love You — Gerry
• 2005Beowulf & Grendel — Beowulf
• 2005The Game of Their Lives — Frank Borghi
• 2005Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula — Prefect Cassius Chaerea
• 2004Dear Frankie — The Stranger
• 2004The Phantom of the Opera — The Phantom
• 2003Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life — Terry Sheridan
• 2003Timeline — Andre Marek
• 2002Reign of Fire — Creedy
• 2002Shooters — Jackie Junior
• The Jury — Johnnie Donne
• 2001Attila — Atila the Hun
• Attila — Attila the Hun
• 2001Jewel of the Sahara — Captain Charles Belamy
• 2001Please! — Peter (as Gerry Butler)
• 2000Dracula 2000 — Dracula
• 2000Harrison's Flowers — Chris Kumac
• Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married — Gus
• 1999One More Kiss — Sam
• 1999The Cherry Orchard — Yasha
• 1998Fast Food — Jacko
• 1998Little White Lies — Peter
• 1998Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the Mummy — Burke
• The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star — Marty Claymore
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman — Tim Bolton
• 1997Mrs Brown — Archie Brown
• 1997Tomorrow Never Dies — HMS Devonshire Leading Seaman
• A Darker Shade of Magic — Producer
• All-Star Weekend — Russian Gymnast Fan
• Den of Thieves 3 — Nicholas 'Big Nick' O'Brien, Producer
• Don't Go Gentle — Producer
• Empire City — Rhett Westermark, Producer
• Hair of the Dog — Mr. P
• Just Watch Me — Riley Wolfe, Producer
• Naya: Legend of the Golden Dolphin — King Kula (voice)
• Night Has Fallen — Mike Banning, Producer
• Remote Control — Michael Rafter, Producer
• The Nest — Producer

Appearances as themselves (27)

• 2026Everyone Is Lying to You for Money — Self
• 2025Soaring to Life: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon — Self
• Sherri — Self - Guest
• La semaine des 4 Julie — Self
• Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj — Self (archive footage)
• Steve — Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self
• 2013Discovering Mavericks — Self
• Live from Studio Five — Self
• The Jay Leno Show — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• 2007Wrath of Gods — Self
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest, Self - Mean Tweets
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• HypaSpace — Self
• Leute heute — Self
• GMTV — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Self
• Goldene Kamera — Self
• Jeopardy! — Self - Clue Presenter
• Wetten, dass..? — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host