Extended Gerard Butler interview

ShortList is waiting quietly in a lounge in London’s farcically plush Dorchester hotel, writes Tom Cullen. A ticking clock provides the only noise. Through the open door we can see staff busying themselves in preparation for the grand departure of visiting dignitary King Hamad ibn `Isa Al Khalifah of Bahrain. We’re not interested in that. We’re awaiting the arrival of King Leonidas of Sparta. We’re awaiting Gerard Butler.

The Scottish thesp and former lawyer is hot property in Hollywoodland right now, commanding up to £10 million a flick. Having shot to fame in historical epic 300 (in which he played Leonidas and trained 6 hours a day to reach nigh-on physical perfection) he went on to land the lead in Guy Richie’s RocknRolla. Chances are your beloved has dropped a subtle hint about The Ugly Truth, the latest Rom-Com to tickle female funny bones at cinemas across the country. He’s in that too.

Gamer, his latest offering, isn’t a Rom-Com. No sir. Set in the near-future, mind-control technology has taken society by storm and a multiplayer online game has emerged allowing players to control human death row prisoners in mass-scale deathmatches. If an inmate lives through 30 matches then he wins his freedom.

Finally, Butler enters the room and a hotel maid makes herself scarce. He takes one look at the fleeting woman and one at us. “We’re you just...” He looks aghast pointing at us, then at the door, then back at us. “We you just... f*cking the maid?” It’s no longer peaceful. Butler bursts into laughter and slaps a giant Glaswegian handshake on us. This is going to be a good interview...

Sorry I’m not dressed so casual. The ShortLister who was meant to interview you has got swine flu so I’m a last minute replacement.

You are kidding! So you might have it? And you’re here, giving it to me? That’s crazy isn’t it? How paranoid we’ve all got? A friend of mine was telling me her two kids have it, and I’m like, nodding and sympathising and making sure they’re okay, but inside I’m like “You’re giving it to me!”

The Gamers storyline is pretty similar to Running Man

I haven’t seen Running Man. Can you believe that? But if the storyline is similar then so be it, there’s only so many stories you can tell without treading on toes. Whether it is a Rom-Com or a horror, action or thriller – every story is basically a repeat of one of the four basic stories of humanity. But you only have to watch Gamers for two seconds to realise you’ve never seen anything like it before. I mean It’s from start to finish mind-blowing sh*t. And the filmmakers are so innovative. They are literally in the middle of explosions when they roll cameras.