I’ve spoken with Gerard Butler a few times about 300 and so when I sat down with him for this one-on-one interview at the 2007 Wonder Con in San Francisco, I was more interested in getting his reaction to the huge buzz surrounding the March 9th release of the film than about getting any more insight into his take on the character (for that line of questioning see this article or my interview with Butler from the San Diego Comic Con).
We spoke on the red carpet at the premiere of Red Eye a few weeks before it was officially announced you had signed on to star in 300, and at that time you said you had something coming up that was “huge.” Has 300 turned out to be even bigger than you expected?
“Oh by far, by far. But I definitely knew that it was potentially huge but even when I thought potentially huge, I don’t think I ever thought that it would be this kind of freight train that it’s become. This beast, this kind of phenomenon. It’s what I’m hearing, anyway, and so I don’t think I expected anything like this. Although it’s hard to speak because you know, it hasn’t opened yet…”
At what point did you really begin to feel the buzz grow around 300? Was it the San Diego Comic Con last summer?
“Yeah, I think Comic Con in some ways was the first time that I experienced viewing this film in front of the public, so then I had an understanding of just how powerful an experience it was because I watched it happen – I was part of it. But I still think that even then I had no idea just what it was going to turn into. This is been kind of months and months in the building and it’s really only been in the last month… I mean, I think I always knew the film was going to be awesome, but just by the nature of the film you don’t know what kind of an audience it’s going to capture. It’s probably been in the last month that I’ve just been hearing more and more people - even unrelated to the business - just talking about how much buzz there’s been in this film. Just how ridiculous things are - the way people are talking.
It’s kind of weird because when you’re in it, you don’t feel it. It’s hard because if you’re there talking about your film and other people are talking about your film, then you’re only talking about your film. You’re not out there sampling things. In fact, you’re so busy talking about it that you’re not actually knowing what’s really going on in the outside world. But from what I hear from everybody around me, as I say, including a lot a lot a lot of people unrelated to the business that you come across when they find out you’re involved in it. They’re like, ‘My god, I’ve never heard such a buzz about a movie. I’ve never been so excited to see a movie.’ There’s been a lot of that. So that’s the point where I feel it. I think I always knew it was going to be successful, but recently it’s felt like it’s taking on its own energy. It’s become something else, you know? It’s become a kind of life unto itself.”
But can the big build-up be a double-edged sword? With the expectations so high, isn’t there extra pressure to perform surrounding the film’s release?
“I know it’s been said that sometimes the risk is when a film gets too much hype, people perhaps get slightly exaggerated in their estimations and then a film that still does amazingly well isn’t seen as big a success as it is, because people had gone haywire with it with the opening figures. I have noticed that producers, despite constantly talking about how the tracking is through the roof and the awareness and the excitement about the film, at the same time always being cautious when it comes to figures. Which I say, ‘Shut up, abandon that. Throw out cautious energy or you’ll get cautious results. Dream for the best ever and then if the worst comes, we can take a little disappointment.’ I don’t know. I guess to me even if this whole road show was to stop today, it would still have been worth it because it’s just been such a buzz to see this excitement. But it will still be great to see how it performs.”
Are you shocked by the fact women seem to be just as into 300 as men? Did you expect that sort of reaction to this action film?
“I think it’s hard to tell about something before you see it. I always thought, something I always try and play - even in the most powerful and intense of characters - is to bring in a human side that both men and women can identify with. So you hope that’s going to come out. I think that the addition of the strong kind of female queen and that incredible bond that Leonidas has with his wife Gorgo has made a huge difference to the film, as well.”
What I’m amazed at is how women are taking even the parts that we thought would just be for the men, like the action, because they’re kind of just beautiful to watch. They’re still like moving pieces of art that are just a little more brutal. I think in a way that allows women to access it easier, because it is violent. I think I’m finding out now that if you present it in the right way, women love violence just as much as men!
And then the other thing is I say again is that very simplistic, pure elements of passion and love and sacrifice of what that really means between families, husbands and wives, has a strangely profound affect. It can seem to satisfy various different audiences. I think that was the big surprise. I know in the test screening that they had, when it tested really, really well, the big surprise was it was kind of topsy-turvy. It was kind of two-thirds excellent and one-third very good which, as it was explained to me, shows that the whole middle ground - the undecided folks in a political campaign - were skewing hugely towards the movie as opposed to it. We weren’t losing them, so that’s pretty exciting.”
Page 2: Gerard Butler on the Codpiece, Cape and Shield
