300
300 aims more for the visceral than the historically accurate. Based on a graphic novel's version of ancient Greek battles, the idea of abtastic dudes rumbling with giants and mutants overpowers the timeline and politics of events. As Spartan leader Leonidas, Gerard Butler had to find a happy medium between history and mythology.
Gerard Butler is King Leonidas
"I think that it’s really trying to strike a balance between many things without getting too caught up in the different technical elements," said Butler. "I’ve never come across a character quite as powerful and intense and charismatic as this guy, and as badass. I mean, he’s a f*cker. And yet, you know that you have to rise to that element that it goes past even epic and becomes comic book. But at the same time, to only do that and never give him a heart and soul, then the whole thing means nothing."
So Butler focused on the physical. "I really focused a lot on becoming as big and as strong and as confident in those things as I could possibly be, and even doing a lot of working out just before the takes and constantly doing that. Every time I trained, it made me feel more like a Spartan, more like a king, more like I was impressing my men and more like they would be willing to follow me. And also, that fire is burning inside you and then, you can completely go the opposite way and play it as a guy. I literally walked around Montreal with my shoulders back, my chest up. It was that feeling, just that feeling of real inner confidence and yet then you can have fun with the other things because it was actually difficult to suck all that in."
Feeling it for real let him into the psychology of Leonidas. "He has a lot of things going on. There’s an arrogance there, there’s a confidence, there’s a humor, there’s a dryness, there’s a compassion and there’s a certain amount of humanity and then the guy is a nut job. He’s crazy and there’s a fearlessness that borders on insane. To try and get all those in with a man who really doesn’t talk that much was a challenge. And then to do it all in front of green screen, so there’s a way of doing it and a way of talking about it, and as you can see I’m really not good at talking about it. I just do it."
Working out wasn't just an acting technique. It was practical too. "I kind of became a bit addicted to it or perhaps addicted to the advantages that it was giving me because after a certain point, I never once felt silly or strange standing in my cape. That started to become, a couple days after putting it on, one of my biggest allies, wearing that costume and feeling so strong, excited, you know, that your body was also an intimidating factor and inspiring factor for your army, as they all were. You’re surrounded by probably a few tons of muscle and when you pool that together and pull all that spirit together and have nothing but focus and belief and pure intention, the power of that, you become 1000 times stronger, that it actually makes sense that you could hold off an invading army that don’t have that belief, that are in disarray, that you could hold them off quite easily."
300 opens to theatres this Friday, March 9th.
For the video journals, stills, trailers, more stills, reviews, posters and
movie info, head over to the 300
Movie Page.
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