Gerard Butler: You lose your edge in romantic comedies

Gerard Butler has said he has deliberately steered away from romantic comedies in recent years because they make him feel like he “loses his edge”.

The Scottish actor, who found fame in The Phantom Of The Opera and starred in films such as PS I Love You, The Bounty Hunter and The Ugly Truth, said he would not rule out returning to the genre in future.

The star of 300, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, will next be seen playing a tough detective in crime thriller Den Of Thieves.

He told the Press Association: “The last movie I did was called A Family Man, it’s about a father whose kid gets leukaemia,the next movie I’m doing is a psychological thriller.

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“This is not an action movie, I don’t think it’s only action, I am trying to really break it up and do what I think are more interesting roles and interesting scripts – but I have deliberately steered away from romantic comedies for a bit.

“Who is to say I won’t go back there? They are fun but you kind of feel you lose your edge a bit. I like keeping some edge.”

Asked if it was unlikely he would return to a rom com, he said: “It’s not unlikely, you never know, if I get a great script.

“It just depends on each script, When 300 came along I had said ‘I am never doing a sword and sandals movie again’ and then 300 came along and I thought ‘I’ve got to do that’.

He added that his new film is much more realistic than some of his biggest blockbusters, saying: “It depends what you compare it to, 300?

“It’s a little more real. I think this is much more reality based.

“It really tries to climb into that vibe of South Bay and cop life there and gang life and criminal life and we always delve a little more, in terms of Olympus and London, into the ridiculous and that is part of the fun of it.

“If you stand back and look at it you go ‘Seriously? Is this happening?’

“But if you go scene by scene you can buy that it was going on.”

Butler plays an American in his new film, but said he is looking forward to using his native Scottish accent in future project Keepers.

He said: “It’s the first time I’ve really been able to do a full-on Scottish accent in 16 years.”

He added: “I’m kind of proud of myself because when I started acting the thought of doing an American accent, of doing any accent, was terrifying – so the fact I’ve done that many movies in an American accent and I can pull it off now (is amazing).

“No matter how many times I do the American accent, I will be honest, I can never fully give it as much as when I’m just myself, so it will be fun to get a chance to just speak like I spent 30 years of my life speaking before I ever had to do an American accent.”

Den Of Thieves is released in the UK on February 2.