Set Visit: Interview with Gerard Butler about Gamer

SET VISIT – INTERVIEW WITH GERARD BUTLER

We didn’t get a lot of time to chat with Gerard Butler (“300”), who was busy shooting one of the main action sequences for his upcoming film GAME (from CRANK creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor), but he did stop by briefly to talk a little about the movie and show off his ability to curse like a sailor. Considering that he was exhausted, it was close to 12:00 at night, and it was his birthday (good timing, eh?), I can’t say I really blame him for not wanting to talk too extensively. That said, for the time we did have with him, he seemed like a genuinely cool, down-to-earth dude. Plus he’s got a badass Scottish accent.

Gerard Butler

Put your pens away, I just came over to say, “Hello.” I’m getting blown to bits. I’m sore, I’m tired. What I’m actually going to do is turn around and show you my bum. A thing I love to do for journalists.

[Laughs]

So what do you think?

It looks awesome. You’ve got body parts flying around.

Yeah, I know, I just saw the explosion. I didn’t see the body parts until I got to the car. There is a lot of that in this movie. You know, I’m playing real tough, then you get down and see bodies in half, heads lying around. Shit, it is pretty disgusting. It is intense.

Are you doing all of the action stuff first?

For the next eighteen months it’s all action, then it’s a couple days drama. I’m joking. We’ve been mixing it up a bit. It’s been mostly the action sequences. There are a couple of drama scenes in-between the action stuff. Most of that stuff comes in January. It’s been a pretty incredible week.

Have there been any scenes that you’ve been looking forward to shooting the most?

You know, here’s the thing: I’m always amazed in films the scenes you think are going to be awesome are, for whatever reason, sometimes not quite awesome. But I have to say, we’ve only been filming eight days now, and every day has been amazing. Every set has been incredible. There is something very open, yet intense, and bold, and real, and gripping about it… because it is so open and expansive, because of the nature of the game. You can see that everybody is having an amazing time. Even the stunt guys, they don’t often get to do stuff this crazy, and so repeatedly, and I dare to say haphazardly at times. [Laughs] Safe, always safe, but f*cking nuts! This is turning out to be really cool, and I know the other stuff, like with the railway station, is mind blowing. There’s so much incredible footage in that.

And, we have four main games, every single one is going to be different. Every single one has so much character. On top of that, there are another four parts of the movie that have a whole bunch of action going on as well. And there is a really cool story underneath. This one’s is exciting. This is one of those movies where I’d rather be at work than not be at work. A lot of movies I’m like, “I want my time off.” But this one has me saying, “Oh, good! Good! I’m going to the BMX park today. I will be covered in shit time and time again!”

It must be exhausting.

It is. One of the things for me is training in this altitude, because when I first got here I had a chest infection. And literally, just starting, I was having trouble breathing. And I’m like, “How the f*ck am I going to get through all of this?” I have been training really hard since I got here. And that’s one of the things, when you’re focusing on every part of your body, and you are running, and you are carrying these weapons…By the time I’m finish, I’m exhausted. After each take. And I have to do it again and again.

(A Lakeshore representative tells Gerard Butler he has to get back to the set.)

Well, I’ve got to get going. It was nice meeting you all. And by the way, you guys made 300. It was the internet sites that did it for us. So, I hope you can do the same with this.

If it’s as good a movie, that will be easy. [Laughs]

Well, even if it’s not as good! [Laughs]

READ PART 1 OF THE SET VISIT HERE