Gerard Butler

Born: 13 November 1969
Where: Glasgow, Scotland

The former legal trainee made his feature debut opposite Billy Connolly in the biopic of Queen Victoria Mrs Brown.

He is now regularly cast in major roles including Phantom of the Opera and Michael Crichton's Timeline as well as being tipped to be the next James Bond.

He spent his early years between Canada and Scotland before enrolling in his teens at the Scottish Youth Theatre.

However, family pressure resulted in him studying law at Glasgow University - but he relocated to LA after qualifying.

During this time he appeared as an extra i the The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner...but returned to Edinburgh to take up the law again.

However, after watching Trainspotting at the Edinburgh Festival he succumbed to the acting bug again and moved to London.

A chance meeting with playwright Steven Berkoff saw him cast in Corialanus and later the part of Mark Renton in Trainspotting.

During filming of Mrs Brown, Butler was honoured by the Royal Humane Society after rescuing a drowning boy on location at Taymouth Castle.

Back on screen, a small role followed in the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and he landed supporting roles in Shooters and the war drama Harrison's Flowers.

He then simultaneously landed the high-profile title roles in Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 and the US TV movie Attila.

At the same time media reports suggested that Butler was being lined up to play James Bond when Pierce Brosnan revoked his licence to kill.

Film work continued with a supporting role opposite Christian Bale in the dragon-slaying thriller Reign of Fire.

In 2003, he had a villainous turn in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life with Angelina Jolie and appeared in Richard Donner's sci-fi thriller Timeline.

Recent work includes the role of the phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and a surrogate father in Shona Auerbach's Dear Frankie.