Gerard Butler, King Leonidas Interview

21-03-2007 11:44

QUESTION: What were your thoughts on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, 300, prior to making the film?

GERARD BUTLER: You know, it’s just such a beautifully conceived world, not just by Frank, but by Lynn Varley as well. The colors that are used, the shapes, the tones, and, in fact, to me, I could tell you all about the research that I did, but just like Zack himself said, that’s the world that we drew from – the world that they created, the characters. You could tell so much just from the way that Leonidas would position himself, just those stances, and the way they walked, and the way they moved. I had just read the graphic novel when I first went to meet Zack. That’s why I was jumping around with him because I was saying what these guys are like, animals, bam, jumping up and down. I was pretty much on top of the coffee table. I find the source material such a kick ass, pumping story with very unusual heroes. They’re not very hero-like in a lot of ways. They’re kind of bastards, tough as you like.QUESTION: But there’s also that heightened reality. How did you maintain that energy level yet keep it real? GERARD BUTLER: It’s a fine line to tread. I think people are too easy to rubbish the work that it takes to perform in an action movie, especially one like this, because you’re dealing with tricky dialogue that’s not in any way modern, or easy to express. You’re dealing with values, situations, and scenarios that are so huge and difficult to comprehend. And you’re, as you say, in a whole other reality. On the one hand, you have to be as big and as powerful, as compelling as that reality. But on the other hand, you have to be human, and real. Otherwise, there’d be no story because it would be like the armor that you wear. It wouldn’t penetrate in any way into an audience’s heart. So, you have to let them into your heart. But if there was a film ever and a role ever in which you could do that in the most roundabout way, by completely keeping it inside, this was the role. It was really interesting for me to toy with that, to let out an arrogance, and let out a kind of super-confidence, an incredible power and intensity, and yet, at the same time, show that this man had humanity, and compassion, and that he had feeling about what he was, what he was doing and, effectively, what that meant in terms of his nation, his own family, his own life.

QUESTION: You mentioned the armor that you wear in the film. Do the clothes make the man?

GERARD BUTLER: To me, I think that the clothes taketh away the man. And then, eventually, make him. I think, in this respect, when we first wore the clothes, it was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ It was a little bit scary, and we had to look at each other and laugh, because sometimes you prepare for a film, and there can be one thing that nobody thought about, that is actually a gaping error. But, of course, after a day of just walking around in it, you quickly get to a zero balance of you feel okay, and then, for me, like in every role – because I’ve had to wear a lot of interesting outfits and costumes – then I start to allow it to define me and to define my character. And I trained so hard that a combination of the training and the costume helped me become that lion, that king, to the extent that when I put on the cape, and when I put on the leather codpiece, I felt pretty powerful standing up there. And you really start to use it, start to love it.

QUESTION: Did you shoot the whole film on a soundstage?

GERARD BUTLER: There’s one shot in the whole film, when the horses are riding into Sparta, that was shot outside. But even the shot with the horses in the attack, when they’re attacking the Spartans, that was inside. So, every shot was inside a soundstage.

QUESTION: Was it strange for you to interact against a blue screen environment?

GERARD BUTLER: You have a choice: I can either worry about this, and get into the silliness of it, or I can get into the beauty and the power of it. So, I’m good at kicking it out. And when you’re surrounded by 70 guys, and they’re all looking the same, you quickly forget about it. And when you start training, and you’re doing your action stuff, and the testosterone and adrenaline come in, you’re glad you’re wearing that stuff, because you really start to feel like you’re on a battlefield, and you’re, and you’re getting into something very cool, and very violent, and very masculine.

QUESTION: This movie has gotten such enthusiastic reactions at screenings. What’s the buzz been like for you?

GERARD BUTLER: It’s weird. As an actor, you’re always wanting to do a film that has great reactions, and I’ve experienced that along the way, most notably with Dear Frankie, because it was such a small movie to get big standing ovation in Cannes. That was really special, because it wasn’t a big film. But without a doubt, this is the film that’s getting a more constant, incredible reaction than any other film. But then, you get it, and it’s difficult to connect with because you’re not there. You just hear it. The power of this film is seeing it with a big audience. There’s something about it; it’s not like a normal cinema experience. You may not realize this is happening, but you actually are thriving off of the energy of everybody else. So, it becomes just like the combined energies of 300 people that were very focused, made them all powerful. It’s kind of like that, I think, in the audiences. When you know that it’s all right to laugh, and it’s all right to gasp, and it’s all right to shout out, then everybody starts doing it. That first screening I went to, I couldn’t believe it. I mean, there were people jumping out of their seats at points, and whooping, and wahoo-ing, and doing the Spartan chants, and clapping, and laughing. The bigger the audience, the better the experience, I think.

QUESTION: What was it like to go to Comic-Con to show the first footage to fans of the property?

GERARD BUTLER: I went down there. I had been away in the desert for a month. I think I’d met, like, two people in a month, and then I came back and, literally, went home, got into bed, got up, flew down to San Diego, and went to Comic-Con. So, it couldn’t have been a better experience for me. That was a buzz. There are certain defining moments in your career. It was a rock concert. I mean, they went nuts, and I think a lot of people down at Comic-Con talked about it, the reaction that it got. And we ended up showing it three times, although they say that’s because the audience demanded it three times. One of them was me. So, not just was I experiencing the audience reacting like they did, but that was the first time I’d seen any of this film on the big screen. I’m, like, ‘We have to see that again.’ David Wenham and I got down on the stage, looking up, and I was mesmerized. I remember tapping him. He’s, like, ‘I think we’re on a winner here.’ It was just a great moment. And it’s all the more exciting for this film. Dear Frankie was exciting because it was a small film. This film is exciting because it was all on blue screen. So, you made it. You had an idea. I mean, you saw renderings of how it was going to look. But when I saw it, in some way, I can’t say I was as shocked as everybody else. I had more involvement, knew the world, but, in some ways, I am like an audience member as well, because it is a world that I hadn’t seen finished before, had a rough idea but I hadn’t seen it. Those backgrounds weren’t there when I was filming. Those mountains weren’t there. That made the experience twice as cool for me.