Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#406
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Gerard Butler represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 30 years in, and Gerard is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Gerard Butler appears in 48 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Gerard. How to Train Your Dragon is the clearest case: a film rated 8.1 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, screen presence. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Dean DeBlois, Ric Roman Waugh, Brian Goodman and others, Gerard Butler helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010) as Stoick (voice) · How to Train Your Dragon (2025) as Stoick · How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019) as Stoick (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #406 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
48
1997–2027
Career length
30 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
How to Train Your Dragon
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
Most frequent director
Dean DeBlois
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Dean DeBlois
Most common genre
Action
26 titles
Average runtime
1h 40m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.4
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
6.6 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Tomorrow Never Dies, Mrs Brown — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
6.6
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
6.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Tomorrow Never Dies, Mrs Brown.
Most productive era
2010s
20 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.81 film | 6.75 films | 6.53 films | 5.51 film |
| Action | 6.41 film | 6.38 films | 6.510 films | 5.87 films |
| Thriller | 6.41 film | 6.64 films | 6.49 films | 6.47 films |
| Comedy | — | 6.22 films | 6.15 films | — |
| Crime | — | 6.93 films | 6.82 films | 6.13 films |
| Romance | 6.81 film | 6.82 films | 5.82 films | — |
| Horror | — | 5.92 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as HMS Devonshire Leading Seaman.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.1 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2027How to Train Your Dragon 2
The current state of the argument, as Stoick.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
48 of 48 films
as Stoick (voice)
Directed by Dean DeBlois
as Stoick
Directed by Dean DeBlois
as Stoick (voice)
Directed by Dean DeBlois
as King Leonidas
Directed by Zack Snyder
as Clyde Alexander Shelton
Directed by F. Gary Gray
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Stoick (voice)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Performance score8.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Stoick (voice) gives Gerard Butler a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Stoick
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Performance score8.2
How to Train Your Dragon asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Stoick is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Stoick (voice)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Performance score8.0
How to Train Your Dragon 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Stoick (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
King Leonidas
300 (2007)
Performance score8.0
300 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. King Leonidas is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Stoick (voice)
Start here. How to Train Your Dragon is the clearest statement of what Gerard Butler does — accessible, 98 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Gerard at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
300 (2007)
Keeps the adventure register of How to Train Your Dragon but asks for a colder reading of it.
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
A deliberate change of key after 300 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Law Abiding Citizen — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Same director as How to Train Your Dragon 2, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Dean DeBlois
Director
4 films together
Notably How to Train Your Dragon
Ric Roman Waugh
Director
3 films together
Notably Kandahar
John Madden
Director
1 film together
Notably Mrs Brown
Roger Spottiswoode
Director
1 film together
Notably Tomorrow Never Dies
Patrick Lussier
Director
1 film together
Notably Dracula 2000
Rob Bowman
Director
1 film together
Notably Reign of Fire
Jan de Bont
Director
1 film together
Notably Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life
Richard Donner
Director
1 film together
Notably Timeline
Sturla Gunnarsson
Director
1 film together
Notably Beowulf & Grendel
Mike Barker
Director
1 film together
Notably Butterfly on a Wheel
Richard LaGravenese
Director
1 film together
Notably P.S. I Love You
Zack Snyder
Director
1 film together
Notably 300
Mark Levin
Director
1 film together
Notably Nim's Island
Guy Ritchie
Director
1 film together
Notably RocknRolla
Robert Luketic
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ugly Truth
Brian Taylor
Director
1 film together
Notably Gamer
F. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together
Notably Law Abiding Citizen
Andy Tennant
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bounty Hunter
Tom Owens
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury
Marc Forster
Director
1 film together
Notably Machine Gun Preacher
Ralph Fiennes
Director
1 film together
Notably Coriolanus
Curtis Hanson
Director
1 film together
Notably Chasing Mavericks
Gabriele Muccino
Director
1 film together
Notably Playing for Keeps
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably Olympus Has Fallen
Brett Ratner
Director
1 film together
Notably Movie 43
Alex Proyas
Director
1 film together
Notably Gods of Egypt
Babak Najafi
Director
1 film together
Notably London Has Fallen
Mark Williams
Director
1 film together
Notably A Family Man
Dean Devlin
Director
1 film together
Notably Geostorm
Kristoffer Nyholm
Director
1 film together
Notably The Vanishing
Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
Joe Carnahan
Director
1 film together
Notably Copshop
Brian Goodman
Director
1 film together
Notably Last Seen Alive
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Dean DeBlois
Director
4 films together · 5.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
How to Train Your DragonRic Roman Waugh
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
KandaharTim Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How to Train Your Dragon: HomecomingF. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Law Abiding CitizenZack Snyder
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
300Tom Owens
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragons: Gift of the Night FuryRichard LaGravenese
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
P.S. I Love YouCurtis Hanson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Chasing MavericksGuy Ritchie
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RocknRollaJohn Madden
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mrs BrownMark Williams
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Family ManMarc Forster
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Machine Gun PreacherRobert Luketic
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ugly TruthBrian Goodman
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Last Seen AliveAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Olympus Has FallenMike Barker
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Butterfly on a WheelRoger Spottiswoode
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tomorrow Never DiesJoe Carnahan
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CopshopBabak Najafi
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
London Has FallenRob Bowman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Reign of FireDean Devlin
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GeostormAndy Tennant
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Bounty HunterMark Levin
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nim's IslandKristoffer Nyholm
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The VanishingRalph Fiennes
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CoriolanusJan de Bont
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of LifeAlex Proyas
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gods of EgyptGabriele Muccino
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Playing for KeepsBrian Taylor
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GamerRichard Donner
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TimelineSturla Gunnarsson
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beowulf & GrendelPatrick Lussier
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dracula 2000Brett Ratner
Director
1 film together · 4.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Movie 43Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Tomorrow Never Dies
as HMS Devonshire Leading Seaman
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Gerard Butler has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
30 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Action Legend
Awarded
26 catalogue titles in action, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Law Abiding Citizen
as Clyde Alexander Shelton
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
as Stoick (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Vanishing
as James
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
How to Train Your Dragon
as Stoick (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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