Gerard Butler is the Scot whose six-pack grossed over $450 million at the box office in the mega-movie 300. The actor talks about pitching into debates on dialogue, tabloid rumours and relaxing in the Scottish hills.

"There's one thing I've learnt as an actor, as well as producer, and that's to trust my own instincts," he says. "When I first started acting, I would have an idea about certain things, whether it was a scene or some dialogue and often it wouldn't be followed through but I was never in a position to have the power to press the matter. When the movie came out, my agents would say, 'Do you know what, that was a good point you had there'. I noticed the more involved I became in developing stories, the more I realised I could actually have a huge amount of input."

As for whether his candid approach created problems for his past directors, he just laughs saying, "Yes, absolutely but then it can be a pain in the ass for an actor and producer if there's a director that doesn't listen."

A law student for seven years before he turned to acting, Gerard says that experience was one of the reasons he was initially attracted to the script for his new film ‘Law Abiding Citizen’. "Having been involved in the law and then realising I no longer wanted any involvement in it and then coming across this story, which is really an indictment of the legal system or the way it can be abused. But then as much as we talk about the analysis of the legal system, I guess it gets to the point where it's just pure entertainment. There's a huge popcorn element in this movie," he says.

When filming finally wrapped, he decided to return to Scotland where he "went away on my own a lot, climbed up a couple of hills and got a tent out.” It's a world away from ‘play-boy' we read about in the tabloids. Appearing to enjoy the life of a bachelor there have been reports of him dating a number of Hollywood ladies, including Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston, his co-star in the upcoming movie The Bounty.

As for what he thinks about being tabloid fodder, he laughs and says, "I try and stay away from reading anything and if anybody sends me clips or articles or tells me what's going on, then I normally tell them to leave me alone. It's normally when I'm doing press that people say, 'Oh, so is it true about...? That's when I catch up on all the rumours!"