Politico | Actor Gerard Butler gives press briefing at Pentagon about new submarine action movie Hunter Killer
Meanwhile, Pentagon reporters have complained they were not receiving information they need to keep the public informed about US military activities
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Rebecca Morin on politico.com on October 15, 2018.
The US Defence Department, which reporters have criticised over its infrequent news conferences, featured the actor Gerard Butler in the Pentagon Briefing Room to promote his new movie about a Navy submarine.
The Scottish actor is publicising his latest film Hunter Killer, which will premiere the weekend of October 26. The movie involves a group of Navy SEALs who are tasked with saving a kidnapped Russian president in an effort to stop a third world war.
Butler said he spent three days in a US Navy submarine in Pearl Harbour, where he said it was like “entering another country, another world – it’s like an alien planet.”
He was able to see how the submarine functions and took part in training drills, such as “man overboard”.
The actor also said that he and others involved in the movie had to cut some of their promotions in Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist.
Butler was set to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“It just didn’t seem like a situation that we would want to get into,” Butler said.
When asked about his main takeaway from his time on the submarine, Butler said it was how sailors are “constantly being tested” and forced to think logistically, intuitively and creatively.
“What I really took out of it was the brilliance and the humility of the sailors I worked with,” he said.
