I’m obsessed with “Big” Nick. Gerard Butler has played all manner of action hero over the years, from soldiers and cops to Spartans and medieval Viking kings with dragons as pets. The actor usually brings some unique flavor to his portrayals, and the weirder Butler is allowed to me, the more memorable the feature ends up being. Granted, Mike Banning from the Olympus Has Fallen film series is pretty straight-laced, but it was necessary. “Big” Nick O’Brien is the polar opposite. He’s a wild card. He’s a rule breaker. And he’s the reason why Den of Thieves 2: Pantera nabbed the top spot at the box office on opening weekend. People needed to see what Butler was going to do next as “Big” Nick.
You know what they didn’t expect? The way that Gerard Butler chooses to smoke his cigarettes in the Den of Thieves movies. You can see it in the photo below. There’s a very unique style to the way that “Big” Nick O’Brien holds his cigarettes while he’s planning a diamond heist, or arguing with Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) about the next steps in their latest scheme. Take a look at this posture:
As it turns out, there’s a very good reason for Gerard Butler choosing to smoke his cigarettes that way when he’s in character as “Big” Nick. He’s mimicking someone who works behind the scenes on the movies. Speaking with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera writer and director Christian Gudegast during a recent press day, I asked about Butler’s choices with the cigarettes, and was told:
So Big Nick, like all the characters, they're all based on actual people. And so the technical advisor that's with us in the entirety of Den 1, who helped us in the prep of Den 2 for (Gerard), smokes that way. And so (Gerard) is imitating the way he smokes. Specifically him. I'll tell you what, that’s a result of a lot of rings on the fingers, so you have to hold it a certain way. Because the (rings are) so thick, they make your fingers wider. So that's why he smokes that way. There you go.
Well, now I need to see the fat rings on the fingers of the technical advisor for the Den of Thieves movies! And this man better be brought back for Den of Thieves 3, which hasn’t been greenlit yet, even though Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. know which actor they’d like to see join them in a sequel.
Listen, almost any actor can step into a brainless shoot-’em-up and deliver the goods. It takes a little extra spice to create a film that’s going to land on the Best Action Movies of All Time list. And while I’m not saying that the Den of Thieves movies reach that pinnacle, I do appreciate the small touches that Gerard Butler has brought to movies such as Greenland, Plane, Machine Gun Preacher, Hunter Killer and more. It tells me he cares just a little bit more than the competition.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is still bringing audiences into theaters, but use our guide to all of the upcoming 2025 movie releases to see what else will be playing near you in the coming weeks and months.
