Gerard Butler enjoys a leisurely lunch and a spin around town with a male friend By ELEANOR GOWER PUBLISHED: 19:37 EST, 5 October 2012 | UPDATED: 20:53 EST, 5 October 2012 (MAIL ON LINE)

He has a slew of movies set for release this year and 2013, so it was unsurprising that Gerard Butler was taking a bit of a break today before beginning his grueling round of promotional duties.

The Scottish actor joined a male friend for a bicycle ride through New York City before the men took lunch together al fresco.

Gerard, 42, and his companion were dressed remarkably similarly in blue jeans, pale shirt, trainers and sunglasses as they took off for a spin around the city.


Later over lunch, Gerard was spotted clutching a city map while enjoying a coffee.

His next film Chasing Mavericks, where he plays legendary Northern California big wave surfer Frosty Hesson is slated for release at the end of this month.

Gerard told surf.transworld.net that he had to train hard to get his stamina up for the movie.

'I did long-distances paddleboarding and then basically just surfing - learning how to be on a board, do turns, get up on a wave. Really just learning how to look like I knew what I was doing,' he said.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2213703/Gerard-Butler-enjoys-leisurely-lunch-spin-town-male-friend.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Gerard Butler: 'Chasing Mavericks was a passion project for me' Published Monday, Aug 27 2012, 7:24pm EDT |(DIGITAL SPY)

Gerard Butler has said that his new film Chasing Mavericks was a "passion project".

The actor, who also produces the surfing film, revealed that he wanted to become more involved in Chasing Mavericks as he felt so moved by the "emotional and inspiring" story.

 By Jennifer Still 

"I love to be able to produce, especially if it's a project that you really believe in, and this was very much a passion project for me. When you're producing, you have a chance to get even more involved and have more of a say in the creative process at all levels actually, that's what got me about it," Butler explained to MTV News.

"But from the second I got the script and I read it, one, it's a very powerful and emotional and inspiring story, but two, it really dives into the psyche and the danger and the courage in the sport of surfing and that was something I'd never really seen before in a major feature film. I thought, I want to be part of telling that story. It would be an honor for me to step in there and really try and represent what goes on in the mind and heart of a big-wave surfer."

Butler also promised that fans would be getting more than a stereotypical surfing movie as Chasing Mavericks employed new technologies and techniques while shooting. 

READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a402068/gerard-butler-chasing-mavericks-was-a-passion-project-for-me.html