Was POTO IT for you?

[ReggieNY11]

I am curious about whether or not you would know who Gerry was if you had never seen POTO. It seems that role has meant so much to so many and I got to thinking "How many GALS would have ever found him if not for POTO?" Guess I have too much time on my hands (yeah, right!)

[GBPhanatic]

I love Craig Ferguson and would have eventually seen him on his show and thought, "who's that hunk with the scottish accent? What a babe!"

Kidding.

I was just talking about this the other day with T. I hadn't seen 300 or PSILY when I saw POTO but I had seen Tomb Raider and Reign of Fire but those weren't really Gerry's movies. I probably would not have seen RNR because it had a very short and limited showing. Our pattern of movie going, such as it is, Law Abiding Citizen would probably have been the movie that brought me to him because this would have been something that fit the criteria of both of us and then, of course, Gerry's performance.

The chain of events that lead me to Gerry are unusual. They started with seeing the Broadway version while visiting NYC, then the movie just happened to be on TV about a month later. It was that trip to New York that started it all in kind of a pattern of synchronicity.

Movies like PSILY and TUT would have brought on the old "eye role" when I suggested them and the sulk. He abhores chick flicks but goes begrudingly and if they are sappy, cries like a lilttle girl! Actually, I'm not a big fan myself. I lean towards the dramas and more epic type romances like Pride and Prejudice and that sort of thing. That's why I'm praying Burns is done tastefully with a lot of historical significance and not over done in sexual raunchiness.

Gerry's role as the Phantom will always mean something very special to me though and if I was ever within close proximity of Gerry, that would be the role that jumps in to my head first.

Delene

Edited February 10, 2010 by GBPhanatic

[ladyfran]

Nope....for me it was Attila! I couldn't take my eyes off him and since then I've been under his spell! POTO was down the road..

Frannie

[raynbow]

Well, I'd seen Attila, Tomb Raider and ROF, and didn't really need to know much about him, although those were early days in my computer years, if you know what I mean. But when I caught Phantom on HBO a year after it was in theaters, I was hooked! So, yeah, Phantom means a lot to me! I mean, I might have found him in 300 or PSILY, but POTO is the IT movie for me when it comes to Gerry. (Although 300 and that body..... )

Rayna

[milol]

I was slow to finding Gerry - I didn't find him until PS I Love You. I went through a period I wasn't watching many movies at the theaters. If I had seen POTO when I wanted to when it was at the movies, I'm sure I would have found Gerry sooner. He is magnificant in POTO. I remember when Atilla was on TV and I just didn't watch it because I was busy at the time. My loss - he was also wonderful in that and quite striking. His other movies may not always be the type of movies I would normally watch, but he brings something very special to each part. He is an amazing actor with such gift to transform his entire being to that part unlike anyone else I have seen. I look forward to each new movie to see what he does with his role. Love Ya Gerry Linda

[Melodie]

Nope. I didn't even know he was in the movie (or the movie had been released) until March/April last year.

PSILY was the movie where I first saw him, and found out his. I was seeing it with a friend for a Christmas present because I adore Hilary Swank, the moment he came on screen I sat there in the theatre poking her going "who IS that?" She didn't have a clue either, but we were hooked, walked out of the cinema together in tears and at the same time exclaimed "I am SO getting that on DVD!" down the hall. We got some very strange looks. Lol.

I found his name when I got home, etched it into my memory, and then a few weeks later TR2 was on TV and my step-dad was taping it, it was muted because my mom didn't want to watch it, but I walked through the room and saw his face on the screen and dived for the remote. Lol. I never did get to watch the rest then, my mom turned it back off.

Then in March/April last year, I was watching my Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, decided to see where Michael Crawford was now (it had been a while since I followed him) rediscovered my obsession with POTO, and then found out the movie had been made (I gave up when I realized Michael was passed-aside in the 90's.)

After that, it was interviews by the many on Youtube, saw the trailer for TUT, hunted down Dracula 2000 and Dear Frankie, and the rest is history. However, it was more the other movie roles that had me hooked rather than POTO, I'm a little on the fence with the movie, however I do like his performance, I'm just a little MC/book bias. I'm the type to stick with originals I know and grew up with rather than embrace the replacement, so to speak.

[cybrsal]

POTO is was brought me to Gerry's sites.

The movie , the Phantom, and Gerry the actor who played the character all played a part in me becoming a member of a fan group. I had never been an active fan before to anyone. My husband and I were so moved by this movie, that we had many discussions over the story and Gerry's talent to dig deep into the character. It was actually my hubby that said, "why don't you go online and look up this actor and find out about him...find out what other parts he has played". POTO is what did it for me. My husband lost interest and forgot all about the actor due to the fact most of the sites were filled with women and him being a guy couldn't relate. He had no interest at all in being a fan. I think he was taken in by the story of the phantom he seemed to understand. That was his interest. Since he instigated my online search, he never said a word about me checking in at the sites and going to all of Gerry's movies.

Having said all that, I might have seen Gerry's other movies and appreciated them, but I would not have searched online who Gerard James Butler was as a person.

Sally

[Knight Phantom]

I have told and posted this story many times, but since you asked...

I had actually paid money and saw Dracula 2000, Timeline and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider when they were released. It never occurred to me that all of these characters were the same man! Each time I saw one of these movies, I thought "Who is that guy?" but since this was the days before I had internet, I never thought to look him up. He was just hot eye candy. And like candy, soon forgotten .

I got on-line in 2001 and was very involved, and still am, in another fandom (Forever Knight) which took up quite a bit of my spare time. I had a toddler at home, so I didn't really troll other sites looking up 'stuff'.

Fastforward to 2005. My daughter (the aforementioned toddler) was at her Nana's and had watched the DVD of The Phantom of the Opera. When I came to pick her up that weekend, she begged me to watch it with her. Having only known of Phantom through the musical and Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, I was NOT interested <please, no tomatoes, but I don't care for either MC or SB>. She pleaded...she begged...she whined...so just to get her off my back; I relented.

35 minutes into this movie I was done! The next day while she was at school I googled Gerard Butler. Imagine my surprise when I found out I had seen him years earlier! I found .net, joined, but was never comfortable there. Found GALS a few months later, and have been here ever since.

So, yes Phantom was IT for me. But my love for Erik has grown way past Gerry's portrayal of him; and that is best left in another thread.

[Lady Elissa]

POTO was IT for me! My husband watched Attila when it was on TV, but I was busy with other things and didn't watch it. My daughter wanted to see Reign of Fire and Timeline, so we rented those for her. She watched them, but I didn't. When I saw the trailer for POTO on TV, I told my daughter that I wanted to see it because I had never seen Phantom of the Opera, but I loved the music, so we went to the movies to see it. I was blown away by the Phantom, although I had no idea who he was. My daughter enjoys telling people how I drooled in my popcorn. I went home and looked for Gerard Butler on the internet. I rented and then bought every movie he had been in that I could get my hands on. My internet searches eventually led me to GB.net where I lurked for a year before joining the forum in January, 2006 where I gained some notoriety as a contributor to the over-18 limericks threads. I found GALS in June, 2006 and have been here ever since, although I'm still a member and occasional poster at .net.

This little limerick, which appears as my personal statement in my profile here on GALS and at .net sums it up.

There once was a lass from San Antonio,

who went to the movies to see POTO.

She sat there mesmerized by those beautiful eyes,

and now she's Butlerized

don't you know.

Edited to say, as to whether I would have found Gerry without POTO I really don't think I would have. I rarely went to the movies. Of the movies Gerry has made since POTO, I can't think of any that I would have gone to see if I hadn't been a Gerry fan already.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Lady Elissa

[AngelofMusic]

I would have to say, probably yes....Phantom was IT for me or rather, its really what made me a fan. I have loved the musical all my life and wasn't even aware there was a movie until I watched the Oscars in 2005. I can actually recall watching the Oscars in 2005 with my mom, and turning to her when the movie`s nomination came up in its nominated categories, and with a very surprised, puzzled expression on my face exclaiming..."Wait...there`s a movie?" So, naturally, I was very curious, curious but reluctant to view it. You know how you can love something so much and then when a different adaptation is created from that thing, in my case Phantom, getting disappointed by it can be so crushing an experience. However, when the dvd was released in April 2005, I purchased the movie on the 1-disc edition of the dvd.

Much to my surprise, I adored it. I still do. It was such a magical experience for me to see the musical done at long last (since I had not seen the show at this point, I did however see it in New York in June of 2006, so everything worked out in the end lol).

After a while, I bought the 2 disc edition, because I really couldn't resist, and also I finally broke down and looked up Gerard Butler on google, because quite frankly I was a 17 year old girl who couldn't, no matter how hard I tried, shake this man`s haunting voice from my mind for an instant.

When I did look Gerry up, much to my surprise I had seen him in TR2 and ROF, and not realized it. As it is quite obvious, he looks so vastly different from role to role, so that is why I couldn't remember him. I spent a good, long while obsessing over everything Gerry....I mean when you're in high school, its hard enough, but I was in high school and obsessed with Gerry. Who I may add, not a single one of my other class mates knew who he was.

I joined Gals after all this, and in April, it will make 4 years since I joined. This is this first and only time that I have joined a fan club for anyone, so I would consider that to be pretty dang special. And, I will proudly say that since becoming a Gerry fan, I have managed to convert over a few of my closest friends to the "dark side". The force in strong with them.

Edited February 11, 2010 by AngelofMusic

[may]

POTO is was brought me to Gerry's sites.

The movie , the Phantom, and Gerry the actor who played the character all played a part in me becoming a member of a fan group. I had never been an active fan before to anyone. My husband and I were so moved by this movie, that we had many discussions over the story and Gerry's talent to dig deep into the character. It was actually my hubby that said, "why don't you go online and look up this actor and find out about him...find out what other parts he has played". POTO is what did it for me. My husband lost interest and forgot all about the actor due to the fact most of the sites were filled with women and him being a guy couldn't relate. He had no interest at all in being a fan. I think he was taken in by the story of the phantom he seemed to understand. That was his interest. Since he instigated my online search, he never said a word about me checking in at the sites and going to all of Gerry's movies.

Having said all that, I might have seen Gerry's other movies and appreciated them, but I would not have searched online who Gerard James Butler was as a person.

Sally

I'm with you on that one cybrsal; Gerry was the "Phantom" bar none for me. I saw this movie and fell head over heals for his character. To think of another sequel without the original Phantom (Gerry) in it ( movie not stage) is well; unthinkable...I started off on the old Warner Brothers Board which was posted for those who had seen the movie; to visit and chat; but when it was cancelled after a few years I came here. I am a Butlergal; "born and bred" Lol and proud to be one too!

[Susan~Sporran]

Phantom was definitely IT for me. Strangly I had never seen or heard of Gerry before. It is strange because movies like Timeline are my husband's thing and if we'd been aware of that we'd have seen it. Now whether or not I'd have been impacted enough by Gerry in that movie to go searching him out on the internet, nobody knows.

I had been a fan of Phantom for years - probably since I first saw it (with Michael Crawford but NOT with Sarah Brightman) when it came to L.A. in 1989. I saw the trailer in November while seeing another movie and immediately turned to my husband and said "you know what we are seeing on New Years Eve this year!" because it had become a tradition for us to see a major movie on NYE. So that was it!

After seeing it I then saw Gerry on the Tonight Show in January and became fascinated with him. I started seeing POTO again and again (10 times in all before it left theaters here all together). My husband was watching TR2 on TV one day and I saw Gerry. I watched Dracula 2000 on TV too. Then I rented the DVD of Attila.

I joined a Phantom fansite and then found a Gerry fansite.

If not for POTO I'm not sure if or when I would have discovered Gerry. I would have missed Dear Frankie, most lkely, and it is my favorite movie now. It might have been PSILY since I like that type of movie and I was already a fan of Hilary Swank's, though she has done a lot of movies I never saw so I'm not completely certain I'd have seen it.

[Texas gramma]

I totally lost my heart to that curly haired Scotsman, Andre Marek, in Timeline. However, didn't know anything about the actor who played him and as my husband was very ill, I had other things on my mind than looking him up on the Internet.

I had always loved the music for POTO and had seen the stage production when it played in San Antonio. When POTO came to theaters, I really wanted to see it, but again, due to Gene's illness, I missed it. When the DVD came out however, I was first in line to buy it! Then there was the scene in the golden corridor when the Phantom turned his face to the camera. I totally forgot to breathe and with what breath I had left, muttered. "Dear God in Heaven, who IS that???" As soon as the movie was over and I was able to stop mopping my eyes (and mouth), I Googled that Gerard Butler guy. Imagine my shock when I found that he was also my beloved Andre Marek. I was soo done for! Like others, I got involved with .net, first fan club I'd been involved with since The Everly Brothers in 1954! I too was not that comfortable there and found my way to GALS a few months later. I was HOME!

I can honestly say Timeline was my first shot of Gerry Juice but it was not enough to obsess me. POTO most certainly did that, so it was absolutely "IT" for me!

Suzie

Elissa, I loved the limerick!!

Edited February 11, 2010 by Texas gramma

[Christine ONeal]

I've only been a fan for a about a month now and smack myself mentally for not catching on to this talented man long before. I remember ads for POTO and did intend to see it just mainly cuz I loved the music but just never got around to it. I also remember ads for 300 which didn't appeal to me at the time cuz of it being so bloody. PS I Love looked like a great movie that I never got around to seeing. My sister bought PS I Love You and POTO at the urging of one of her classmates. I watched PS I Love and thought Gerry was great in it and made me want to find my own Leprechaun...LOL. Then we watched POTO when she told me Gerry played the Phantom. Yes, I was quite hesitant to see it cuz I only knew about MC and SB but was willing to give it a chance. Boy am I glad I did...I think my mouth hung open most of the movie due to my shock that Gerry could pull off singing those songs. IMO, Gerry and Emmy were way better than Michael and Sarah. Gerry's "ruined" the role of the Phantom, not in a bad way at all but now I don't want to see the Phantom played by anyone else. He made the Phantom more human so I felt sympathy for his facial deformity and wished Christine had chosed Erik over Raoul.

Since seeing those two movies, I now own a vast majority of Gerry's work, including Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married. Gerry is such a remarkable actor who knows how to make each character his so much that no one could top him. His eyes speak volumes, from sadness, happiness, passion, rage and every emotion in between. His eyes truly are the windows to his soul.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Christine ONeal

[Spartandax]

II have to say, YES, it was definitely POTO. I had seen "Attila" on TV several years before I saw POTO (in 2008) at home since I don't get out much. I don't remember Gerry- just that I liked the movie a lot. Sorry gals, I am afraid I committed a mortal sin here. . When I saw POTO though, my first reaction was "Who is that gorgeous man?" I do not follow celebs much at all. I don't know half of the names on many of the TV shows I watch. I am not impressed by fame, fortune or any of those things. But it was the performance which got to me I have never seen a movie before or since which affected me this way. I actually fell in love with Erik. He was something special to me, he crawled into my heart and has remained there ever since.

My home is a POTO shrine, only POTO. I have at least 300 photo's dwnloaded from POTO. Nothing in all my 68 years ever hit me this way. I even wrote a book because my heart ached so for Erik that I wanted him to find someone who loved him after she left. No, I am not one who feels they eventually E&C got together. I don't like the plot for LND, and I will always think of Erik as I wrote him. I am sure many other authors fel the same way, because we potrayed him the way we love him.

Anne

[evergreenlove]

I first saw TUT and fell in love with this beautiful rouogh looking guy. I looked him up on wikapedia and found out he was the Phantom. Wow was I surprised. I always loved the Phantom and thought he looked fantastic. Since then I have seen almost all of his movies. It seems that I really love the ones that didn't do much at the boxoffice - such as POTO, Beowulf and Grendal, and Game of their Lives. He is so darn handsom in all of these. Since I found Gerry and the GALS I look in on his wareabouts and romance and films he is working on. In TV interviews he is so darn cute. He reminds me of a little boy just experiencing life and finding joy in everything.

[JustCallMeTracy]

I always say Gerry introduced me to Erik and Erik introduced me to Gerry. I know in the movie he is only called The Phantom, but since watching Gerry's version I have became open to reading lots of Phantom novels and fan fiction. There I heard him addressed as Erik. I also have watched two other versions of the film Charles Dance's and Lon Cheney's.

Also I became very attached to the character of Meg Giry and the portrayed by Jennifer Ellison.

That was because I cried so one night after seeing Erik there suffering that I decided Meg followed him and returned his mask and cheered him up eventually.

Jennifer Ellison (Meg) reminds me of the daughter I never had. I always wanted one with blond hair and brown eyes. Plus she is built just like my sister in law was in her youth. So I instantly fell in love with her.

As for Gerry as the masked Phantom. He has got to be one of the hottest entities that ever existed. Even without the mask I find him absolutely beautiful. Gerry shined in that role.

I love his singing voice.

I was very surprised to see Gerry on an interview after that on You Tubes peaking with a Scottish brogue. I was used to him speaking with a French accent and singing with an English accent.

Yeah thanks to POTO I fell for Gerry and hard and not only that I cannot get enough Phantom.

So thanks to Gerry I fell in love with POTO.

I address myself as a Phantom Phreak.

Now do not get me wrong. Since I have seen many other Gerry movies. I am very impressed with Gerry period. I have yet to meet a Gerry movie I didn't like. Gerry is just a wonderful, wonderful actor and he really brings it to his roles.

Love,

Tracy

P.S.I shudder to think if I had not seen Phantom would I ever have met Gerry. I do not know to be honest. I hope I would have seen him in something else. Not being a Gerry fan =

Edited March 31, 2010 by JustCallMeTracy

[sadiephanobutlr]

I always say Gerry introduced me to Erik and Erik introduced me to Gerry. I know in the movie he is only called The Phantom, but since watching Gerry's version I have became open to reading lots of Phantom novels and fan fiction. There I heard him addressed as Erik. I also have watched two other versions of the film Charles Dance's and Lon Cheney's.

Also I became very attached to the character of Meg Giry and the portrayed by Jennifer Ellison.

That was because I cried so one night after seeing Erik there suffering that I decided Meg followed him and returned his mask and cheered him up eventually.

Jennifer Ellison (Meg) reminds me of the daughter I never had. I always wanted one with blond hair and brown eyes. Plus she is built just like my sister in law was in her youth. So I instantly fell in love with her.

As for Gerry as the masked Phantom. He has got to be one of the hottest entities that ever existed. Even without the mask I find him absolutely beautiful. Gerry shined in that role.

I love his singing voice.

I was very surprised to see Gerry on an interview after that on You Tubes peaking with a Scottish brogue. I was used to him speaking with a French accent and singing with an English accent.

Yeah thanks to POTO I fell for Gerry and hard and not only that I cannot get enough Phantom.

So thanks to Gerry I fell in love with POTO.

I address myself as a Phantom Phreak.

Now do not get me wrong. Since I have seen many other Gerry movies. I am very impressed with Gerry period. I have yet to meet a Gerry movie I didn't like. Gerry is just a wonderful, wonderful actor and he really brings it to his roles.

Love,

Tracy

P.S.I shudder to think if I had not seen Phantom would I ever have met Gerry. I do not know to be honest. I hope I would have seen him in something else. Not being a Gerry fan =

Indeed it was POTO for me that pushed me over the fence into ga ga land about Gerry in particular and certainly about the Phantom. BUT I had actually seen Gerry in several of his movies leading up to this point in his career and had, in each case, been intrigued and impressed by him. I remember Lara Croft Tomb Raider thinking that the movie was so so but 'who is that gorgeous man?' And he was the best thing in Timeline. I had also seen Reign of Fire and saw him crisped in that one. To make a long story short, when I saw Phantom, I could no longer resist looking him up online. From that point on, I was a Gerry fan.

A slightly different story when it comes to the Phantom story itself. I had never liked the Phantom of the Opera versions I grew up with. I liked Lon Chaney's version as a horror film. Other than that one, I didn't care for the story. I love musicals and was very excited to see ALW's Phantom of the Opera. This was such a different experience from the ones I had had with the story before. I could not get enough of it. I can't even tell you how many times I went to see the movie while it was still playing in the theaters but it became a weekly routine until it was nowhere within the radius of an hour's drive.

So POTO did a lot for me. But Gerry had already caught my eye.

Cheers, Sadie

[gblover1]

Honestly I discovered that I was a Gerry Butler fan by watching Phantom of the Opera

[Lady Ski Bum]

I was hooked after seeing Timeline. I had read the book because I enjoyed Crichton's books so the movie made more sense to me. Gerry, Scottish or not, was the perfect fit for what I imagined Andre Marek to be. Halfway through the movie it dawned on me what movies I had seen Gerry in. That is when I started renting or buying his movies and following his career. The one scene at the beginning of the movie where he is explaining to the archaeology students about getting their hands dirty the camera shows the sun glinting off of his eyes and I was hooked. He played the hero perfectly.

[redroseblackribbon]

I too have shared my little story several times over the last 3 1/2 yrs, but I'd be glad to share that moment that changed my life with you once again.....I saw the trailer for POTO in the theater while watching another movie...I remember just the few glimpses of Gerry as the Phantom immediately caught my attention and I made mental and verbal notes to my husband...I want to see that! Unfortunately I forgot my mental note until the next year when I began working at my current job for a cable tv company....one of my perks is free movie channels.....when POTO began airing on HBO in Dec of 05 I was very anxious to see it....the night I did, thank God I was alone!!!!The scene when Gerry first appears and begins to sing to Christine in the mirror....I literally slid off the couch onto the floor like a puddle of goo.....and sat mesmerized through the rest of movie with my face inches form the screen...I couldn't get close enough!!!!I immediately the next day dvr'd it's next showing....went to Wal Mart and bought the CD and DVD.....and googled Gerry.....I found GB.net first, but a few months later made my way home to GALS after attending a Beowulf viewing event in Chicago.....after "finding" Gerry in POTO, I figured out quickly that I had indeed "found" him long before POTO....Attila....Drac 2000.....Timeline...saw them all, and I remember thinking after all of them....WOW.....who is that guy? But POTO is the moment that my heart and soul were stolen by Mr. Butler.....the rest is history....

[Spartandax]

Without a doubt, POTO is IT for me. I just watched it again last night for the ????th time since I found it in 2008, just about 2 years for me now. I have lost count, but I still get chills when I watch Erik. Now if you want to count the times i have played parts of the movie scenes on the computer, well, that would equal ????more times-LOL. I usually just watch the parts with HIM Has there ever been anything like it? not for me since I first saw a movie in black and white in the forties. I thank God every day for DVD's so I can watch it whenever I want.Forever Erik-always my love.

Anne

Edited April 12, 2010 by Spartandax