LONDON — Gerard Butler fans are used to seeing the Scottish actor swoop in to save the day in action films like “Olympus Has Fallen” and “Plane”.
But in his latest movie, the 55-year-old takes on a somewhat different role – a singing, sometimes rapping, Santa Claus.
Butler voices St. Nick in “The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland”, an animated musical film adaption of the children’s picture book by Carys Bexington and Kate Hindley.
The story is a mash-up between the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and “Alice in Wonderland” and sees St. Nick travelling to Wonderland to deliver a gift and finding himself in trouble with a Christmas-hating Queen of Hearts.
“This is a little fun animated movie, not be the thing I would normally do or be expected to do, but I loved the opportunity to do different performances in different arenas,” Butler told Reuters.
“The whole family are going to be smiling and I want to be a part of those things.”
The screenplay for the film, which features “Bridgerton” actor Simone Ashley as Alice and “Game of Thrones” alumni Emilia Clarke as the “Queen of Hearts”, is entirely in rhyming couplets.
“To be honest, the whole thing was kind of a challenge so you just throw (it) all in the same box,” said Butler, who is also known for action epic “300” and the animated “How to Train Your Dragon” movies.
“I’ve got to sing these crazy songs. I’ve got to do a rap in which I cannot breathe. So there was a lot of challenges but fun ones.”
Asked if he planned to make more Christmas films in the future, Butler said:
“They are talking about doing a second one of this… I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say, but we already have a story of where does Santa go next, what other fairy tale character (does he meet), could he embark on a mission? And… (from) what I’ve heard so far, it sounds amazing.”
“The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland” is released on Sky Cinema on Friday.
—Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Angus MacSwan