Gerard Butler's 'Last Seen Alive' Character Sounds Scottish and American All at Once
Published Oct. 6 2022, 4:28 p.m. ET
The premise of the film Last Seen Alive is terrifying — a husband and wife make a routine stop at a gas station. The wife goes into the store to buy a snack and never returns to the car.
But you know what we're more scared of in Last Seen Alive, which is currently streaming on Netflix? Gerard Butler's accent. Seriously. What's going on with it? Let's investigate this pressing matter.
What is Gerard Butler's accent supposed to be in 'Last Seen Alive'?
OK — Gerard Butler is Scottish in real life. However, the character he plays in Last Seen Alive, loving husband Will Spann, is supposed to be American (although technically they never verify that in-universe, if you want to get really nit-picky).
Every other character in Last Seen Alive has an American accent, so we're assuming that's where the story is set!
All jokes aside, it's obvious that Will is supposed to be American. However, hints of Gerard's Scottish accent do frequently slip through when Will is on the hunt for his wife Lisa, played by Thor: Love and Thunder star Jaimie Alexander.
One example of Gerard's real accent slipping through is when he frantically explains to Lisa's parents that their daughter is missing. Will says, "We stopped to get gas and she went out into the market," and you can hear his accent on the word "out."
But then Gerard nails the American accent in the next part of the sentence, "And she didn't come back out." (See — this is why we aren't actors!)
Listen, Gerard is famous for a reason, regardless of his Last Seen Alive accent! Maybe they can make Will's character secretly Scottish in a Last Seen Alive sequel? Based on Twitter reactions to the film, Netflix subscribers were more upset by plot choices in the film than Gerard's accent.
Wait, is there going to be a sequel to 'Last Seen Alive'?
As of Oct. 6, 2022, the answer is to be determined. When Last Seen Alive was initially released, it wasn't exactly a critical darling (the film currently has an 18 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes).
However, the thriller saw a resurgence of popularity when it was added to the Netflix streaming library. As Comicbook reported, Last Seen Alive did take the No. 1 spot on the Netflix Top 10 list on Oct. 2, 2022.
You can admire Gerard Butler's sort of American accent in Last Seen Alive, now on Netflix.