Gerard Butler Says It 'Felt So Right' to Leave Lawyer Career to Become an Actor: 'Living Your Purpose' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

BeforeGerard Butlerturned to acting, he studied to become a lawyer.

Butler, 55, recently sat down with PEOPLE and hisDen of Thieves 2: PanteracostarO’Shea Jackson Jr.to discuss their careers and things both men have in common. During the conversation, the Scottish actor recalled how he earned his first “professional role” in a Shakespeare production after assisting the production’s casting director with auditions.

“I was the last person to go in after two days of auditioning, and at the end she walked up, the casting director said, ‘[The director] said you were the best he’s seen.’ And then he walked up and said, ‘So you want a job?’ And I’ve got to tell you, it was the happiest day of my life,” Butler says. “And I had just sobered up because I was a lawyer. I was pretty crazy training as a lawyer, and I’d just kind of gotten my s— together, and I walked home that night, didn’t go to the pub, and just walked home going, ‘My God, this is my dream.’ "

“And it wasn’t even a big role. It was just in the ensemble. But it was the most high, and then you realize in a moment like that is that you’re living your purpose,” he adds. “This is for sure what you want to be doing. It just all felt so right. I’d never experienced an excitement like that and more guilt-free than creating an excitement for all the wrong reasons.”

Butler’s career on the screen started in 1997, when he landed roles in the moviesMrs. BrownandTomorrow Never Dies. Since then, he has gone on to star in movies likeThe Phantom of the Opera,300andOlympus Has Fallen, in addition to the twoDen of Thievesmovies.

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“I wanted to be an actor when I was like 10 years old and I did some theater. The bug kept striking me. It got me [at] 15 again for a bit, but I thought I would do the responsible thing,” Butler says elsewhere in the conversation. “So I went into law school and I trained as a lawyer, and I became, I believe, the first trainee lawyer in the history of the Scottish legal system to be fired before qualifying.”

Gerard Butler on Dec. 16, 2024.Alexander Tamargo/Getty

Alexander Tamargo/Getty

“It opened the way,” Butler adds of being let go. “And an interesting life lesson is so often when you think the worst thing that’s happened turns out to be the best thing they could possibly have happened later in hindsight. And then I ended up getting into acting.”

In an interview withUSA Todayin 2012, Butler opened up about his sobriety.

“If you drank like I did (in the past) you’d go ‘No, probably best not to,’ Butler told the newspaper. “Once you’ve been introduced to the art of social drinking you appreciate, ‘Well, this is relaxing.’ It gets you in the mood. But when you haven’t had a drink for a long time, you forget you ever had that. I was (also) a big smoker. I haven’t smoked in a long time.”

Den of Thieves 2: Panterais in theaters now.

source: people.com