It’s quite common for aspiring actors to get their first experience playing supporting roles in James Bondfilms, whether as a villain or as an almost negligible character. One of those actors who got his start in one of the James Bond-films is Gerard Butler.
The Scottish actor has now grown into a real action hero, but at the beginning of his career he played small roles. One of those small roles was in the James Bondfilm Tomorrow Never Dies from 1997. Tomorrow Never Dies is the second film Butler has starred in after making his film debut in Mrs Brown. This also stars Judi Dench, who played M in most of them James Bond-films.
Story
Tomorrow Never Dies is the second James Bondfilm starring Pierce Brosnan. In the film, James Bond must prevent a third world war. Media magnate Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) only needs the broadcast rights in China to complete his communications empire. However, the Chinese do not cooperate, so Carver comes up with a diabolical plan. He starts a war between China and England by sinking a British ship in Chinese waters.
Also appearing in this film is Michelle Yeoh, who plays Wai Lin, a Chinese agent who works with Bond. This role was Yeoh’s big international breakthrough.
Crew member
Butler is in Tomorrow Never Dies but briefly seen at the beginning of the film when the ship HMS Devonshire sinks. He appears on screen for a few seconds as a crew member reporting on the ship’s dire condition.
But Butler is easy to miss in the film. For example, he is not very visible because there is little light and he speaks with his Scottish accent, in contrast to the usual transatlantic accent he has in films nowadays. In fact, without turning up the brightness of your screen, you’ll have trouble distinguishing his facial features at all.
Action hero
Since then, Butler has built a great career and has become a real action hero. He was later in the running to play James Bond himself in the reboot of Casino Royale from 2006, although that of course never became reality. Still, he played some iconic roles.
His role as King Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s film 300 in particular achieved worldwide recognition. He resumed that role 300: Rise of an Empire. Butler also plays the role of Mike Banning in the film series Has Fallen, which consists of the films Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen. He will be seen again as Mike in Night Has Fallen, which is scheduled for next year. Another role he will reprise is that of ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien in Den of Thieves. A sequel to this film will be released next year, which he also co-produces.
Produce
In recent years, Butler has increasingly helped produce films in which he also stars. For example, he produced the film Plane, in which he also plays the leading role, and there are a number of upcoming films in which he plays and produces, such as The Bricklayer in In the Hand of Dante.
Tomorrow Never Dies is not on the various streaming services, but you can rent or buy the film on, among others Prime Video in Pathé Thuis.
2023-12-22 11:49:07
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