Gerard Butler ‘Almost Killed’ Hilary Swank During An On-Set Accident While He Danced In Shamrock Boxers During ‘P.S. I Love You’

Gerard Butler’s career continues to churn away in action mode, and that includes the improbably ripping Plane, which delivers upon its concept, alright. Drew Barrymore happens to be a huge Gerard Butler fan, so when he recently appeared on her show, they journeyed back into his Phantom of the Opera days as well as his era playing romcom heartthrobs.

That time period happened to include P.S. I Love You, the 2007 Richard LaGravenese film that delivered upon every romcom cliché out there, as one does. Hilary Swank gets romanced by Harry Connick Jr. and a then-unknown Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but before that happens, her character gets married to an Irish dude who’s played by Butler with his Scottish brogue hanging out. He’s the perfect husband, so much so that he plans ahead for death by scheduling a series of letters from the grave. It’s sweet but also morbid, especially in retrospect.

At the 5:45 mark above, Butler reveals that an on-set event also grew grim because he “almost killed” Swank. This happened during the scene of the movie that sticks out for me most: Gerry (which was actually the character’s name) danced in shamrock boxers while wearing suspenders. You can watch the scene on YouTube, but also, things got unintentionally violent, as Butler (at the 5:45 mark above) told Barrymore:

“You know the scene where I’m dancing and I [am wearing] suspenders I shot that scene for a day and a half, and I had to dance like an idiot in the suspenders. 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.

Not fantastic. Butler further revealed, “I mean, I cut her open….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.” That was quite a year for Butler, who also starred in 300 while roaring and wearing a loincloth. Yet it appears that Swank healed up in time for the P.S. I Love You premiere, from the looks of the below photo. Memories!