Gerard Butler: We wonder how many times Gerard Butler endured fans yelling, "This is Sparta!" every time he walked outside for a cup of coffee. After his splash as the valiant, tough, though vaguely insane (at least suicidally speaking) Greek King Leonidas in "300," you couldn't hear anything but that rallying cry for months. Though the hunky Scotsman had appeared in a few other movies before his lung-screaming, head-chopping, Persian-fighting performance -- most notably "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" (opposite Angelina Jolie) and "Timeline" -- it was "300" that made him a worldwide star. The flaccid romance "P.S. I Love You" with Hilary Swank was a tepid follow-up to such a monumental action hit, but Butler has further impressed with the family picture "Nim's Island" and is currently shooting Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla," which better live up to its name.

(Warner Bros. Pictures)