Gerard Butler used near death accident to avoid washing dishes

Washington, Jan 17 (ANI): Gerard Butler recently had a surfing accident and he says that he used it as an excuse to stay away from doing household chores like washing dishes.

The actor admitted it was a 'close call' when he was thrown from his surfboard and hit by a series of 12-foot waves while filming 'Of Men and Mavericks' in December.

He joked that as a result of what he'd been through, he was unable to wash dishes when he returned home to Scotland over the festive period.

"I play it like that, but I don't really get away with it... Although I do feel that this year I was a little bit lazy," Contactmusic quoted him as saying on ITV1's 'Lorraine'.

"There were a couple of times when I saw people in the kitchen and I thought I could be doing a little bit more. 'Do you know what I've just been through? You're lucky I'm here. And you're going to ask me... it's washing up! It's water! I can't even see the water, any kind of foam - it's too much, what if I fall in?'" he said.

The 42-year-old star's latest film 'Coriolanus' - an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy of the same name - sees him play Roman army commander Tullus Aufidius, and he hopes appearing in the movie will encourage people to read more of the playwright's work.

"I was sent the script - it was so filmic, it was just perfect and you really could immediately see yourself as that character and you could see Ralph as 'Coriolanus'. It's very accessible and easy to follow," he said.

"You always have different reasons for choosing roles. Some are for fun and this came along and I thought, 'Well, you know what? I'm not exactly known for my Shakespeare!'" he added. (ANI)