Gerard Butler Suffered Brutal Self-Inflicted Injuries On Set Of Latest Movie
Gerard Butler, while filming Plane, accidentally got phosphoric acid all over his hands, face, and even down his throat.
Action star Gerard Butler has had a long, successful career as the tough guy that takes his licks, but keeps coming back for more. According to reporting from Screenrant, that’s a trait the star has in common with his larger-than-life characters. While filming Plane, the Angel Has Fallen leading man accidentally got phosphorus acid on his face, hands, and eventually, even down his throat.
Gerard Butler shared the story of this horribly painful incident on Late Night with Seth Meyers, explaining that the scene called for him to fix an issue with the brakes on the titular plane, so he put his hands in-between the wheels. When the star brought his hands back out, they were covered in a green fluid, which quickly spread as the actor, covered in sweat from filming, accidentally spread the fluid all over his face.
What happened next, according to Gerard Butler, “And suddenly it’s in my throat, it’s in my mouth, it’s up my nose, it’s in my eyes. It’s burning my face, and I mean burning. And it turns out this is essentially phosphoric acid. And the airline pilots that were there watching go, ‘No!’ They’re trying to put water on my face. ‘Don’t put water. It’ll make it worse!’”
“And I’m just like burning alive, so it was intense. And it actually burned for hours, but it was great for the sequence.”
Gerard Butler discussing his self-inflicted injury filming Plane
Even though the water may have amplified the burning sensation, flushing the infected area is the recommended course of action when dealing with phosphoric acid. The liquid will spread the acid, but at the same time, it’s diluting and weakening the corrosive effect. Gerard Butler, despite the intense situation, would up feeling positive about the situation: “And I’m just like burning alive, so it was intense. And it actually burned for hours, but it was great for the sequence.”
The next time you see Gerard Butler take a solid hit on the screen, just remember that this man thought burning his own flesh ended up being great on camera. The 300 star does try to do all of his own stunts, even encouraging his Plane co-star, Mike Coulter, to do the same. Despite all of the effort behind the scenes, Butler’s movies tend to be disparaged by critics, though audiences can’t get enough of the Scottish star.
Plane, starring Gerard Butler as pilot Brodie Torrance, follows the story of the plane going down on a war-torn island with no government and no one able to come to their rescue. Mike Coulter is Louis Gaspare, a convicted killer that was being transported alongside the regular passengers, so of course the two men work together to free the hostages from a paramilitary organization. While the title, and plot, both sound like a default action movie, the overall budget is under $50 million, so even a decent opening weekend will make the film a hit.
Now that Plane is out in theaters, fans of old-school action films can looked forward to Kandahar, which stars Gerard Butler as a CIA operative stuck behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. As for the actor’s greatest franchise, Has Fallen, a fourth film is in the works but is still a longs off.
