Gerard Butler couldn’t help but shed tears after accidentally hurting Hilary Swank in P.S. I Love You.

gerard butler, hilary swank

After rising to prominence in the 2000s, Gerard Butler cemented himself as one of the leading men in Hollywood, thanks to the success of Zack Snyder’s 300 and P.S. I Love You. While the former was a much more intense movie in comparison to the 2006 rom-com, behind the scenes, things went south within the first two days of P.S. I Love You‘s filming.

Gerard Butler Gerard Butler in P.S. I Love You | Credit: Warner Bros.

While the actor confessed that he had a blast working with Swank, Butler revealed that he almost accidentally ended up killing her on the set.

Gerard Butler’s Suspenders Almost Blinded Hilary Swank

P.S. I Love You A still from P.S. I Love You | Warner Bros.


Within the first two days of shooting, Gerard Buttler was tasked to film the funny strip tease scene, but things went south after his suspenders didn’t come off in the initial go.

Although in the movie, the suspenders attached to Gerry’s shamrock boxers hit him in the face, in reality, the crocodile clips flew over Butler’s head to hit Swank “in the head, slashes her head”.

At one point, the clip, which was a crocodile clip, got stuck in the television as I’m crawling towards her, and she’s right in front of me, laughing hysterically. The camera people had these plastic fronts to protect themselves from this crocodile because I had to ping it, and it would go [flying] past my face. I’m crawling towards the bed, it gets stuck, it releases, flies over my head, hits her in the head, slashes her head

Given the gravity of the injury, Hilary Swank was then escorted to the hospital, and Butler couldn’t help but shed tears for almost taking his costar’s eye out.

I mean, I cut her open. You could even see the teeth of the [crocodile]. She had to get taken to the hospital. I’m just sitting there in my boxer shorts and my boots and a pair of socks, and I just started crying.

Fortunately, it didn’t leave a lasting impact on Swank, and the film itself became a box-office success with a box-office draw of over $156M.

The Making of 300 Was Ruining Gerard Butler’s Body

Zack Snyder's 300 was very faithful to Frank Miller's illustrations in his comic | Warner BrosZack Snyder’s 300 | Credit: Warner Bros.

Before accidentally risking his costar’s life, Butler got into the best shape of his life for Zack Snyder’s 300. However, the training to maintain Leonidas’ impeccable physique took a major toll on Butler’s health, as he had to train for 6 hours on a daily basis. This involved two hours of CrossFit training, two hours of bodybuilding, and two hours of fight training.

In some ways I was ruining my body, but I was looking amazing doing it,

Even though the actor was fearful of the outcome, as almost the entirety of the shoot took place in front of a blue screen, 300 ended up becoming one of the most acclaimed releases in Snyder’s filmography.

P.S. I Love You is available to rent on Apple TV.