Gerard Butler had to stop his one habit in order to land the lead role in Zack Snyder’s 300

SUMMARY

Gerard Butler’s physically demanding role in Zack Snyder’s 300 came only after he agreed to one condition put forward by WB.
WB exec Alan Horn was not in favor of casting Butler but when a physically fit Butler came to see him, he agreed to it with a caveat.

Gerard Butler’s Leonidas led an army of 300 soldiers to face off against the 300,000 soldiers of the Persian God-King Xerxes in Zack Snyder’s 300. The David and Goliath story required actors to get ripped and look perfect in their half-naked attires. However, Warner Bros. exec Alan Horn wasn’t exactly convinced with Butler for the role after working with him on The Phantom of the Opera.

Gerard Butler in a still from 300 | Legendary Pictures
However, when Butler came to convince him, Horn decided to give him the role as per Snyder’s wish upon one condition. He knew from their earlier collaboration that Butler was a heavy smoker and he wanted the actor to quit smoking to land the part.

Gerard Butler Struck A Deal To Quit Smoking In Order To Land The 300 Role

Zack Snyder and Gerard Butler on the sets of 300 | Legendary Pictures
When Zack Snyder decided to adapt Frank Miller’s historically inaccurate comic book tale of the Battle of Thermopylae, he had eyed Gerard Butler for the lead role. It was one of the things that Snyder had to push for with Warner Bros. The Man of Steel director initially took some effort to change WB exec Alan Horn’s mind about making the film.

Horn was not a fan of another war film at the time when historical films like Troy and Alexander were disasters in the theaters. Snyder convinced him about his different take on the genre. However, Horn was still not sold on Snyder’s idea of casting Butler in 300. During an interview with THR, Horn shared that he just did not see Leonidas in Butler at the time.

However, he soon got a call from Butler asking for a meeting. Horn shared that when Butler arrived he was “physically imposing” from the last time that he saw him. Horn was not going to give it away easily to The Ugly Truth actor and shared that Butler had to fulfill one condition to land the role.

Horn said to him that he had to quit smoking, which Butler initially thought was a joke. But when he understood that Horn was serious, he gave his word to the WB exec. Alan Horn shared with The Hollywood Reporter:

A few days later, I get a call from this Gerard Butler. He says, ‘Can I come and see ya?’ […] So he comes to see me, and he’s really physically imposing. I knew from ‘Phantom’ that he smoked, and I thought I smelled it on him.
So I said, ‘Okay, you can have the part on one condition: You have got to stop smoking.’ He said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said: ‘Yes. Give me your word, and it’s yours.’ And he said, ‘I give you my word.’

Horn did not reveal the intention behind the condition that he set. It could have been his thought that his movie stars needed to be role models. Or Horn just wanted his hero to maintain great health for the physically demanding role. Butler, who had openly revealed his issues with smoking, was cigarette-free for the entire shoot of 300.

Gerard Butler Underwent A God-Like Transformation For 300

Gerard Butler as King Leonidas in a still from 300 | Legendary Pictures
Gerard Butler initially enlisted the help of Mark Twight, a mountain climber and gym trainer, to help with his workout. Twight designed an intense routine for the Law Abiding Citizen actor. The training regime focused on Olympic lifts, functional training, and metabolic body movements for six hours per day, five to six days a week (via Men’s Health).

In his daily six hours, Butler dedicated two hours to CrossFit-style training, another two hours to bodybuilding, and concluded with fight choreography for two hours. Twight also designed the “300-rep Spartan workout”, which included 25 pullups, 50 deadlifts (135 lb), 50 pushups, 50 jumps on a 24-inch box, 50 floor-wipers, 50 clean-and-presses (36 lb), and 25 more pullups.

In order to accelerate his training, he also hired Venezuelan bodybuilder, Franco LiCastro, just five weeks prior to filming. Butler literally went through hell satisfying the physical demand for his role. It paid off massively as the actor was unrecognizable when the film hit the theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, the film raked in $456 million against a budget of $65 million.