Throughout Olympus Has Fallen, Gerard Butler spends a lot of time by himself – whether it’s talking into his headset with the government officials guiding him or stealthily sneaking through the White House. We asked Gerard how it was working in these scenarios, and surprisingly he liked it:
Gerard Butler: Oh it’s great for me! I don’t have to worry about [other actors] remembering their lines, or screwing up mine because they’re going “Wait a minute, you’re not supposed to say that!” I know, it’s fine, I say what I want [Laughing].
No, it’s mixed because it is great to create these scenes on your own. One of my favorite movies is I Am Legend, and some of the best stuff in the movie is when [Will Smith is alone], in fact it’s when everybody else got involved with the movie that I found I wasn’t as interested because watching Will Smith doin’ his stuff there was so fascinating, and so important.
But it’s a challenge because to keep that interesting when you’re going through the White House, because my big thing during scripting was “I cannot just be walking around this White House, what am I doing? What am I looking for? What’s my next move? What am I trying to find? What information am I gathering? How can I get in touch with them? Let’s keep this more involved so you’re with him every step of the way.” I’m never making a move where I don’t know where I’m going or why I’m going. I’m always moving by stealth, trying to get to particular places or take somebody out. That’s the challenge, and that’s what makes it exciting, and yet at the same time it’s fun to act with people. It’s fun to actually be in the same scene with other people because you start to go a little bit crazy on your own.
We had to step in of course and ask: “Did you go a little crazy on your own? You had all these great actors like Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, and Melissa Leo, yet you’re not with them all the time.”
Gerard Butler: Yeah, it could be a little weird. It’s like life – I love to be on my own, I love to spend time on my own, but I go a little crazy when I do. I was on-set every day watching Morgan doing his scenes with Robert Forster, Angela Bassett, and real people who have been in those crisis rooms, all sitting there. Then I’m watching Aaron, Melissa, and Rick Yune in the bunker and I’m kind of like, “Shit, I want to be there!” Then you’re told, “You’re off there! Go to that empty corridor and I’ll be with you in a minute!” But then again, that’s all part of making a great movie.
But with such a taxing role to play and Gerard being only a mere human, we wondered how Butler shook his secret service mentality after the film wrapped, and more importantly how he shook off the role. Of course he opened with humor again:
Gerard Butler: Ah, you’re assuming I’m a human. Yes, as a human [Laughs].
Physically, it was a little tough because you take a beating. I dive into these roles, I don’t think long term, which you should because there’s been too many movies where I’ve picked up these silly injuries. So you go in and you’re diving around – I had a bruise all around my arm, it was all black, at one point it looked like a cadaver. I had a bruise up the back of my leg, all the way to my knee. I was hit in the eye by a bullet casing that ricocheted off a wall and hit me. Loads of cuts and bruises – but you do it. You do it because you’re in it. I’m not trying to sound like a badass, but when you’re doing it you’re just in the moment, full of adrenaline, but then when the movie finishes you kind of go “Awww, oww! Shit that hurt!” With time that goes away.
Emotionally, I always find I have a period of a week or two where I go on a bit of a downer, partly because of the character, partly because you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s like a divorce in a way, a divorce and a house move, a new city. You’ve got to remind everyone you’re back, you no longer know what you’re doing from 6AM on, you’re trying to make up your own day – it’s always a bit of a transition.
Going along with all the information Butler learned on-set, we asked what he specifically found interesting about the specialist’s knowledge:
Gerard Butler: There’s all the gadgets, there’s all the tactical awareness strategy, being creative, thinking on your feet – which again was something important to me going in there. What’s going to keep this fascinating, how do you improvise? Those guys can train until the cows come home, but it doesn’t matter. It very rarely goes the way you expect it to go. So, you’ve got to be ready to think in a split second and change your plan, or have backup plans. All of that I found fascinating, but what I connected to was their heart and soul, and their strength of character, their courage, their fearlessness. Even the darkness they have inside them in terms of that willingness to hurt those who would hurt them or the people they protect from harm. (SMALL SPOILER TO FOLLOW)
For instance, there’s an element of this that’s an inside job, and the way they talked about that, if one of their men was to turn on them, what would happen, and you see the passion in their eyes. One of those guys was telling me this, and he had a slash down his neck from a knife wound. One of the other guys was telling me this, and he had a bullet wound. Both of them were moments from death, so you know you’re listening to guys that have been there, and yet their salt of the Earth. They’re good, humble, real people who at the same time have a courage beyond anything I can even comprehend. I can comprehend it, but I’m not there. I like to pretend that I am, but that’s what I love. Their dedication to their country, to their friends, and just how loyal they are. That phrase “Are you willing to take a bullet,” those guys were so willing to take a bullet to do what they believed.
Such a great note to end it on.
I’d like to thank Gerard Butler to taking the time to participate in this interview, and you can catch him in Olympus Has Fallen when it hits theatres on March 22nd!