Gerard Butler Gets Emotional Shaving His Beard for the First Time in a Year: 'I'm Totally Depressed'
For Gerard Butler, saying goodbye to his beard was an emotional experience.
The Scottish action star took to Instagram on Monday to share the traumatic experience of shaving off his facial hair, which he's been growing out since last December.
"So, here I am about to- what do you call this? Shave?" said Butler, addressing his off-screen stylist. "Shave my beard off after a year of having it on. I'm totally depressed."
It had been such a long time since the star had used electric trimmers, he had to take a second to make sure he was even doing it right. "What do I do? Just straight down?" he asked, before making the first cut.
As the 47-year-old actor -- whose most recent film, Geostorm, saw him sporting only some very light stubble -- brought the trimmer to his face, he began to (mock) cry over the loss of his formidable facial hair.
"You've been through so much with me!" Butler bemoaned as the buzzing trimmer sheared off his salt-and-pepper scruff. "Look at this! Gone! Gone!"
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The clean-up comes courtesy of having to do some additional filming and reshoots on his upcoming action war drama Hunter Killer, which he revealed would also require a haircut.
Butler shared a slideshow of his emotional haircut journey, showing his truly shaggy stage, then his somewhat more trim stage, and finally his short-haired, clean-shaven style.
"One week, three looks. The last of the beardy days," Butler captioned the slideshow.
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Butler had long had a close relationship with his beard. The star's breakthrough role came in the 2006 historical war epic 300, in which he played the hirsute king of Sparta, Leonidas.
Earlier this month, Butler found himself in the headlines (and the hospital) after getting into a serious motorcycle accident that left him with several cuts, bruises and small fractures.
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ET caught up with the actor at the premiere of Geostorm in Hollywood last week, where he opened up about the frightening accident and explained how it changed his perspective on life.
Butler admitted that the crash "made me really appreciate how precious life is, because I could have landed any number of ways that would have taken me out."
Check out the video below to hear more about the action star's painful motorcycle crash.
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