300's Butler Draws The Ladies

300's Butler Draws The Ladies


Sci Fi Wire.com


March 9, 2007


by Patrick Lee, News Editor



Zack Snyder, director of the upcoming graphic-novel adaptation 300, told SCI FI Wire that he was caught off guard by the number of women who want to see the film, which is an action-packed R-rated sword-and-sandals epic. The reason is simple: Gerard Butler.

Snyder said he was "surprised" by the strong following among women of Butler, who stars as Spartan King Leonidas. "I knew that there were these women [who] loved Gerry, but ... who could ever know?" he said in bewilderment in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco last weekend.

Indeed, most of the questions addressed to the 300 panel at WonderCon came from female fans of Butler's, many of whom run Web sites devoted to the hunky Scottish actor. It also came as a surprise that fans will see Butler in any film, no matter the genre; Butler has appeared in films as diverse as Phantom of the Opera and Dear Frankie.

For Snyder, it's hard to reconcile Butler's sex-symbol status with the man he knows as a colleague and friend. "I just know Gerry as the guy that he is," Snyder said. "So for me, it's like, you know, I mean, I appreciate them, though. ... I monitor their sites, and I know what they're up to. I have discovered their whole subculture, and I'm very supportive of them, and I try to help them out whenever I can, like get some piece of Gerry memorabilia or steal something from Gerry and give it to them."

How does Butler handle all the attention from adoring female fans? "He loves that he has the attention, but, at the same time, he doesn't take it [for granted]," Snyder said. "It doesn't go to his head." 300, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., opens March 9.




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