It’s a familiar story. Actors plod along, trying to make a living in relative obscurity, taking small roles for the experience and limited exposure they can bring them, whether it be a bit part or as an extra in a film, a walk-thru on a television show or a short stint in a 30 second commercial.
Such is the case with Gerard Butler. He is an actor that has been trudging along the well-traveled path of thespian obscurity for many years, over a decade in fact. The Glasgow, Scotland bred actor of stage, TV and film has worked hard just to get the work, done everything from holding the camera, co-producing, singing, dancing, voice-over work and the list goes on, and it has finally paid off.
Introducing an overnight sensation, the new superstar action star Gerard Butler. After the awesome and surprise hit of the action-packed Zack Snyder/Frank Miller film “300,” that is exactly how Butler is being seen by those who decide who will star in what.
Butler first caught the serious attention of moviemakers three years ago when he beautifully transformed the familiar Phantom figure in the highly acclaimed musical “The Phantom of the Opera” from a caricature to something quite extraordinary. I saw the stage production in 1998 at the famous Pantages theater in Toronto and was blown away by the magnificance of it all, but Butler’s portrayal of the Phantom on the big screen was nothing if not sheer perfection. Who knew watching him in 2004 as the singing, soul-wrenching Phantom that he would turn into this powerful action star?
Action star is what he has proven himself to be in “300.” This is something new to the fans of that genre, an action idol that can actually act and speak with eloquent tones. That hasn’t been seen since, hmmm, about the closest I can come from the past would be Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken in “Escape from New York.”
Nice segway because that is exactly what the powers that be want to see Butler do next. They are wooing him for the part of Snake for a proposed remake of the John Carpenter 1981 action-adventure film “Escape From New York.” Butler would play the role made famous by Russell as the one-eyed ex-con Snake Plissken, paroled to get the US President out of harms way from the clutches of other convicts encarcerated at the huge Federal Prison that was once Manhattan, New York.
The original film co-starred Ernest Borgine. Ernie may be 90 years old, but he is still very active in the business, physically healthy and still making movies. How cool would it be to have him appear in this remake as well!
The remake will have its script updated by Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down).
