Manly Gerard Butler reveals sensitive side
of Beowulf
和訳はこちら
The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
March 13, 2006
KATHERINE MONK, CANWESTNEWS SERVICE
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/index.html
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Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson calls Gerard Butler the “manliest
man acting today.” It's a tall claim in a business bursting at the
seams with six-pack abs and dancing pecs of steel, but Butler has all
the razor stubble and relaxed, alpha male presence to silence the
skeptics with a single smirk.
“Sturla clearly knows a quality man when he sees one,” says Butler with
mock cockiness. “I'm flattered, really, but I played up my manly side
for this role ― for Sturla's sake ― because Beowulf couldn't be limp
now, can he? Part of me was hankering to find his soft side.”
Butler is only partly joking about finding the gentler side to the
notorious Norse warrior who blazed a trail through early Anglo-Saxon
mythology and remains a constant presence on university reading lists.
Based on a ninth-century epic poem, Beowulf
and Grendel tells the story
of Beowulf (Butler), a noble soldier who is forced into a confrontation
with a great troll named Grendel.
Directed by Gunnarsson (Such a Long
Journey, Scorn) in the
midst of
Iceland's foreboding landscape, Beowulf
and Grendel goes beyond the
elements of the original work and actually attempts to paint a profound
psychological portrait of the warrior's conflicted soul ― and that's
the part that attracted Butler to the mix.
A rising star who appeared as a significant blip on Hollywood's radar
in the wake of Dear Frankie
and a supporting role in Lara Croft
Tomb
Raider: The Cradle of Life, Butler says he became an actor to
explore
the human condition, not to become a heartthrob ― but he only has
control over the former. The latter is already a reality for the many
women who see the Glaswegian actor as the best thing since fishnet
tank-tops for men.
“I love a hero with chinks in his armour,” says Butler, who is a
reallife recipient of an award for bravery after saving a young boy
from drowning.
“In this version of the story, we get a very layered study of what it
means to be a warrior. He first goes on a voyage, a mission, but he
ends up going on a very spiritual journey. It's an exciting hero epic
because it deals with both sides ― the dark and the light ― not just of
the narrative, but the characters themselves.”
Butler sits back, barely folding his rather large, hulking frame into
the small hotel room chair.
“You don't often get characters like Beowulf ― this archetypal hero ―
who suffers so much from understanding. He takes responsibility for his
actions, which pushes him to mature, but it also forces him to question
his own purpose, and I found that very interesting. I adored his
relatability. Even though he's this hulking force, he's very human and
that's finally what makes a role interesting for an actor.”
In the film, Beowulf is pushed to question by Selma, a mysterious witch
played by Canadian actress, and now feature film director, Sarah
Polley. Selma is the creation of screenwriter Andrew Rai Berzins, but
she fleshes out elements that were already present in the epic poem ―
such as self-awareness beyond the call of duty, and the warrior's
heaviness of heart.
“The movie takes on the structure of a dark, psychological test,” says
Butler, pointing out what made the story so attractive to J. R.R.
Tolkien, who based his Lord of the
Rings trilogy in part on Beowulf
and
Grendel.
Butler jokes about his manliness often being a hindrance to his acting.
“Well, being as macho as I am, I can't compete with Philip Seymour
Hoffman. He's always going to win out for those types of roles ― and
I'm not being facetious when I say this, but I would like to play the
different types out there. I'd like to play the insane and infirm
sometimes, but so far, I've been playing military types and warrior
kings, which is fine, too. I'm not complaining,” he says.
“ If anything, it makes me work harder. I want to bring the
vulnerability to those roles, and that pushes you to find subtleties in
a character that aren't on the page. If I have one career ambition ― as
the so-called manliest man acting today ― then I would like to be
remembered as the one who blended machoness with sensitivity . . .
without looking stupid or completely self-absorbed.”