Has dark brown hair.

Born in Glasgow but raised primarily in Paisley, Scotland. He considers Paisley as his hometown.

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.

His eyes are grey/green in color but often appear blue on screen.

Was one rumored to be the next James Bond (after Pierce Brosnan). [April

Was confirmed for a role in Mindhunters (2004), but chose to drop out of it because of his prior commitment to Timeline (2003). The filming schedules of the two films overlapped. Jonny Lee Miller with whom Butler co-starred in Dracula 2000 (2000) stepped in to take his Mindhunter role.

Was a presenter at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards with fellow Scotsman Billy Boyd.

Was at one time the lead singer for a Scottish rock band named Speed, although music eventually became his second love after acting.

Has done five films in which his character's name is in the title: Dracula 2000 (2000), Attila (2001/I) (TV), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Beowulf & Grendel (2005), and _Burns (2006)_.

Cried while talking about the Phantom's loneliness to The Phantom of the Opera (2004) director Joel Schumacher.

Had the rock-and-roll voice that Andrew Lloyd Webber always wanted to hear as the Phantom.

Jokes about preferring the mask side of his face to the regular side of his face.

Sang in a rock band whilst training to be a lawyer.

He has quickly gained a reputation as one of the nicest actors around, as he always takes time to socialize with fans and hangs out with crew members as much as co-stars on film sets.

When he auditioned for the role of Aslan the Lion in the Walden Media/Disney production of 'Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The (2001)_ he asked, "This isn't going to be like the BBC puppet Aslan, right? Because if so I'm leaving right now.".

He has a legal degree from Glasgow University, but gave up on that career after being fired from a law firm just one week before he was qualified to practice law.

Was chosen as the most attractive man of 2005 by Hello! Magazine

Prefers to be called Gerry. He does this because he notices that many people (especially Americans) struggle with pronouncing "Gerard".

Divides his time between London, New York and Los Angeles.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#10). .

His favorite actor is Christian Bale.

He has a tiny pug your could fit in your palm named Lolitta he fell in love with while walking by a pet shop.

Is constantly trying to quit smoking employing the use of hypnotism, patches, lasers and most general methods. He did quit for six months while filming 300, but started again towards the end of filming.