Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker. His family is of Irish origin. Gerard spent some of his very early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, but was mostly raised, along with his older brother and sister, in his hometown of Paisley. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he and his siblings were raised primarily by their mother, who later remarried. He had no contact with his father between the ages of two and 16 years old, after which time they became close. His father passed away when Gerard was in his early 20s. Butler went on to attend Glasgow University, where he studied to be a lawyer/solicitor. He was president of the school's law society thanks to his outgoing personality and great social skills.

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Trivia

He is Scottish, but is of partial Irish ancestry. He has also mentioned that, because of this, his family does not have a tartan.
First stage role was in Coriolanus. Poked in the eye with a wooden stake during rehearsals for the play.
On the first day of shooting his film debut in Mrs Brown (1997), he had to run naked into a freezing sea and, as a result, developed hypothermia. Later during the filming, he saved a young boy from drowning in the river Tay and received a Certificate Of Bravery from The Royal Humane Society.
Graduated from Glasgow University with a law degree
Did not see his father from the age of 2 until he turned 16.
Was once rumored to be the next James Bond (after Pierce Brosnan). [April 2001]

On his new acting career: "[During] some of the most miserable periods of my life, people thought I was very happy. And now that I'm actually happier, I don't have to show it. I'm more comfortable with myself."
In Scotland I'm just like a lot of other guys, but in America I'm seen as a very strong, masculine guy.
You've got to move on and it's a shame because there's a part of you that thinks, 'I was so attached to that movie and its success and what it meant to me.' There's a part of you that wants to pull that off again. I heard some backroom chatter about another 300 (2006) movie. I don't know if it would be a sequel or a prequel but I haven't read anything. I can't see it myself, the idea in general. I'm not sure which way they would go with that. When Russell Crowe did Gladiator (2000), he didn't come back and do another one. Like mine, his character died.
On solitude: I love to spend a lot of time on my own. I can seriously go into my own head and often love to let myself travel where I don't know where I'm going. I always felt that that was his kind of form of escape, in a way.