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).

KNOWN FOR

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2018
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2025
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2018
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Saturday Night Live
2009
Jeopardy!
2025
The Graham Norton Show
2012
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2011
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2019
Sherri
2025
Leute heute
2020
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
2007

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
110
Producing
33
2027
How to Train Your Dragon 2
as Stoick · unreleased
2026
In the Hand of Dante
as Louie / Pope Bonifacio
2026
Greenland 2: Migration
as John Garrity
2026
Everyone Is Lying to You for Money
as Self
2025
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick
2025
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
as Nicholas 'Big Nick' O'Brien
2025
Soaring to Life: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon
as Self
2025
Sherri
as Self - Guest
2025
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self
2025
Jeopardy!
as Self - Clue Presenter
2024
The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
as St. Nick (voice)
2024
ARK: The Animated Series
as Gaius Marcellus Nerva (voice)
2023
Plane
as Brodie Torrance
2023
Kandahar
as Tom Harris
2022
Last Seen Alive
as Will Spann
2021
Copshop
as Bob Viddick
2021
La semaine des 4 Julie
as Self
2020
Greenland
as John Garrity
2020
Love Reaches Everywhere
2020
Leute heute
as Self
2019
Angel Has Fallen
as Mike Banning
2019
The Vanishing
as James
2019
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
as Stoick (voice)
2019
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
as Stoick (voice)
2019
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
as Self (archive footage)
2019
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2018
Hunter Killer
as Captain Joe Glass
2018
Den of Thieves
as 'Big Nick' O'Brien
2018
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self
2018
Steve
as Self
2017
Geostorm
as Jake Lawson
2016
Gods of Egypt
as Set
2016
London Has Fallen
as Mike Banning
2016
A Family Man
as Dane Jensen
2016
Goldene Kamera
as Self
2014
How to Train Your Dragon 2
as Stoick (voice)
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self
2014
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Mean Tweets
2013
Movie 43
as Leprechaun 1 & 2 (segment "Happy Birthday")
2013
Olympus Has Fallen
as Mike Banning
2013
Discovering Mavericks
as Self
2013
The Frame
as King Leonidas
2012
Chasing Mavericks
as Frosty Hesson
2012
Playing for Keeps
as George
2012
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
as (archive footage)
2012
The Graham Norton Show
as Self
2011
Machine Gun Preacher
as Sam Childers
2011
Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury
as Stoick the Vast (voice)
2011
Coriolanus
as Tullus Aufidius
2011
Saturday Night Live: The Best of '09/'10
2011
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2011
Wetten, dass..?
as Self
2010
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
2010
The Bounty Hunter
as Milo Boyd
2010
Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
2010
GMTV
as Self
2009
The Ugly Truth
as Mike Chadway
2009
Law Abiding Citizen
as Clyde Alexander Shelton
2009
Tales of the Black Freighter
as The Mariner (voice)
2009
Gamer
as Kable
2009
The Jay Leno Show
as Self
2009
Live from Studio Five
as Self
2009
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
2008
Nim's Island
as Jack Rusoe / Alex Rover
2008
RocknRolla
as One-Two
2007
300
as King Leonidas
2007
P.S. I Love You
as Gerry
2007
Butterfly on a Wheel
as Neil Randall
2007
Guilty Hearts
as Peter
2007
Wrath of Gods
as Self
2007
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
as Self
2007
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
2005
Beowulf & Grendel
as Beowulf
2005
The Game of Their Lives
as Frank Borghi
2005
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
as Prefect Cassius Chaerea
2005
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2004
Dear Frankie
as The Stranger
2004
The Phantom of the Opera
as The Phantom
2003
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life
as Terry Sheridan
2003
Timeline
as Andre Marek
2002
Reign of Fire
as Creedy
2002
Shooters
as Jackie Junior
2002
HypaSpace
as Self
2002
The Jury
as Johnnie Donne
2001
Please!
as Peter (as Gerry Butler)
2001
Jewel of the Sahara
as Captain Charles Belamy
2001
Attila
as Atila the Hun
2001
Attila
as Attila the Hun
2000
Dracula 2000
as Dracula
2000
Harrison's Flowers
as Chris Kumac
2000
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
as Tim Bolton
1999
One More Kiss
as Sam
1999
The Cherry Orchard
as Yasha
1999
Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married
as Gus
1998
Fast Food
as Jacko
1998
Little White Lies
as Peter
1998
Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the Mummy
as Burke
1998
The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star
as Marty Claymore
1997
Mrs Brown
as Archie Brown
1997
Tomorrow Never Dies
as HMS Devonshire Leading Seaman
Hair of the Dog
as Mr. P
Just Watch Me
as Riley Wolfe
Empire City
as Rhett Westermark
All-Star Weekend
as Russian Gymnast Fan
Remote Control
as Michael Rafter
Night Has Fallen
as Mike Banning
Naya: Legend of the Golden Dolphin
as King Kula (voice)
Den of Thieves 3
as Nicholas 'Big Nick' O'Brien
The Nest