HOLLYWOOD actor Gerard Butler has worn himself into a comfortable niche as the burly, unshaven action hero.



In recent years he has played a hitman, a former military commander turned satellite designer, and, now, a commercial pilot.His latest film – imaginatively titled Plane – sees the Paisley-born actor play his usual role as the gun-toting big man with a heart of gold.

However, Butler’s archetypal Scottish character appears to have a new trait: resentment of the English.Before Butler’s character, Brodie Torrance, pilots the flight that is destined for misadventure, his co-pilot – Samuel Dele (played by Yoson An) – asks if he studied in England.Torrance responds: "Hell no. I wouldn't lower myself to that.Later, when reminiscing about his career as a former RAF pilot, Torrance complains in a peculiarly shaky Scottish accent that “all the sexy assignments went to English folk".

Finally, in a nod to Scottishness so blunt it may very well constitute a headbutt, he asks his daughter (played by Haleigh Hekking) to prepare him "homemade haggis, neeps and tatties" on his return home.But given the fact that his daughter lives in Hawaii – a place not known for its plentiful supply of the humble neep – one fears that Torrance’s request may go unfulfilled.Will disparagement of the English become a new cornerstone of Butler’s act? The Jouker will be tuning in to find out.