Gerard Butler had nothing but praise for Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth.

If there’s one thing that Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl have in common, it’s that they’ve had to do a lot of pivoting throughout their careers. By now, everyone must have heard some version of the ‘drama’ that went on while Heigl was still playing Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey’s Anatomy before the actress made her way to more recent projects such as Suits and the Netflix series Firefly Lane. As for Butler, the 300 star famously ventured into romantic comedies before cementing his action star status once more in the Has Fallen franchise.

Several years back, Butler and Heigl also co-starred in the rom-com The Ugly Truth. And while the film wasn’t that well-received, it famously featured an NSFW scene reminiscent of Meg Ryan’s diner moment in When Harry Met Sally. And even to this day, Butler is impressed at how Heigl pulled that off.

Gerard Butler Signed On To Do The Ugly Truth Just A Few Years After 300

After playing Zack Snyder’s King Leonidas on the big screen, Butler worked to show off his range, taking on action, drama, and romantic comedy projects in close succession.

This was also the time that The Ugly Truth came about and when Butler was first pitched the film, he found something brutally honest about it, which was rather refreshing.

“I know I am going out on a limb with my career here, but there are times when I just have to turn around and look at an a**. Men do that. So at the end of the day, that is what is beautiful about the movie,” Butler explained in a 2009 interview.

“It shows that through our games and weaknesses we all want the same thing. We all want companionship. I think that when the movie comes out, the battle of the sexes will be a battle of the audiences.

The things the characters are saying will be so shocking and unexpected, the guys will be saying, ‘I am so glad that someone has said that,’ and the women will say, ‘I knew it. I just knew it.’ In a way, it is a relief that it is out there.”

Meanwhile, being quite new to the genre at that time, sharing the screen with Heigl also helped a lot. “She’s incredible. She has so many great ideas,” Butler said of the actress.

“I’ve learned a lot from Katie especially about comedy. I understand now about keeping it real but at the same time getting as much out of it as you can. She’s a joy to work with and we have great chemistry together.”

He Says Katherine Heigl Was ‘So Good’ In That The Ugly Truth Scene

Written by Legally Blonde writers Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith and relative newcomer Nicole Eastman, The Ugly Truth features a diner scene that pays homage to that iconic scene in When Harry Met Sally where Ryan fakes an orgasm while at a diner. And if anyone asks Butler, he believes Heigl nailed it.

“Maybe one of the funniest scenes that I’ve ever done in a movie because she’s supposed to obviously have something stuck inside her,” Butler recalled while on The Drew Barrymore Show.

“She’s basically having an orgasm during the scene because this and just keeps playing with the controls. So she had to make the speech whilst you…and she was so good. It was one of those ones where I could just sit back and enjoy a hilarious brilliant performance.”

“She’s phenomenal. She’s good but this scene, that was, I think, her best part of the movie,” the actor later added. “She was great in the whole movie but that scene, I literally was in the moment but also like wow. She’s amazing. She is amazing.”

And while Butler has nothing but praise for Heigl in that scene, the actress did reveal that it was more challenging to pull off than anyone could imagine. “Oh, my God, it was a nightmare. And, let me tell you, ladies, these were fake orgasms, but it was really just physically exhausting,” the actress explained.

“It’s so much physical movement, with the legs dancing under the table and all the tensing up of the body and, by the end of the day, I felt like I had done a marathon. I thought I had run 20 miles. Then, I went, ‘Okay, now I get why it’s called physical comedy.’ No one wants to orgasm 35 times.”

Gerard Butler Also Had His Own Challenges While Making The Ugly Truth

And while Butler didn’t have to do as much physical comedy as Heigl in the movie, the actor also had some technical difficulties to deal with while filming. “Probably just the dialogue. I have never had even a tenth of the dialogue I have to say in this movie,” he explained.

“I never shut up! I have opinions about everything. I have a smart line for every situation. There were days where I had pages and pages of lines, and it’s quick-fire delivery, so it was an interesting experience for me.”

As it turns out, transitioning back to his native Scot accent after playing an American character can be challenging too.

“There’s nothing worse than being a Scots guy with an American accent. I remember once, years ago, going back to Scotland, after spending a summer here and nobody could understand a word I was saying,” Butler recalled.

“I remember being in this bar and speaking to this guy and he went, ‘You’re a f****** Yankee. What the f*** is that?” That’s very much the Scot’s attitude. I was home recently and I said ‘soccer’ instead of ‘football.’ They will crucify you for that.”