Gerard Butler & Katherine Heigl Tell "The Ugly Truth"

At some point, all females, starting in early teen years, have asked themselves "Will he call? Should I call him? Is he into me at all? Do guys really have only one thing on their minds 24/7?" And guys, don't you wonder if your planned technique with the opposite sex will work or tank bigtime? Then we have a film for you. (Warning: The Ugly Truth is rated "R" for language).

Here's the haps: As Sacramento TV news show producer Abby Richter, Katherine Heigl, in real life, happily married to music artist Josh Kelley, is a bright, single, control freak asking all the above questions and more. Abby compiles check-lists that no guy can fulfill but she remains a hopeful romantic. She is freaked when her boss hires Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) a shock-jock-style, chauvinist supreme from a popular cable TV show who insists on telling The Ugly Truth about male/female relationships in the crudest manner possible. In Mike's world, all the relationship psycho-babble books belong in the trash. Sure, he believes that men and women can connect....in the sack. Of course these two have much to teach each other and the not-so-ugly truth is, they're a perfect match. They just don't know it yet.

TeenHollywood was in Beverly Hills recently chatting with this tall, gorgeous duo. We got some great hook-up advice from them and noted that these two are very funny together and call each other "Katie" and "Gerry". He's making full use of his delightful Scottish accent. Take a mental snapshot of "abs from heaven" Gerry Butler dressed in all black; shirt, pants, shoes....yum! "Mr. 300" is also sporting just the right amount of groomed, manly stubble. Katherine, Hollywood glam as ever, is in black and white silk dress with puffy sleeves and pencil skirt accessorized with very high black heels. Our "at first sight" surprise? She's a brunette!

TeenHollywood: Did you change the hair for work or for fun?

Katherine: For fun. Because on the show ("Grey's Anatomy") I don't have hair so now I can do whatever I want.

TeenHollywood: Makes sense. Gerard, women love you, even in big male action films, like 300. Do you think you're pushing your luck this time?

Gerard: (laughs) No, I don't think I'm pushing my luck. Although that is something that I like to do, I don't think I'm pushing it too far. There's definitely a lot of me in the character, but I think it's more about me just being boisterous and fun. I don't expound those ideals, but I do think that there's a lot of those values going on in both men and women, if we're honest and frank about how we look at each other.

TeenHollywood: What do you think keeps the character appealing without going over that edge?

Gerard: What's cool in both of our characters is that, at the end of the day, we're human. We're real and we both have our vulnerabilities. So, there's a lot of that going on under Mike's armor, which is great. What's so great about this movie is that it's so ridiculous and shocking and surprising, the ways that I talk about sex, but at the end of the day, women get it and men get it too.

TeenHollywood: You two have a really hot Latin dance scene. Did you dance that well before this movie, or did you have to practice for that scene?

Katherine: I think that looked so awesome because of the way they shot it. It was all just upper shots. They didn't do any wide shots of us spinning around.

Gerard: I took a few lessons because I had no idea what I was doing. I actually had a lesson from Julianne Hough from 'Dancing with the Stars', and that took me a long way. But, Katherine was just on it, straight away, and that's why it came alive. To be honest, if I was dancing with somebody who wasn't that great, it would have been a disaster. Katie was on it, and I wasn't (she nods 'no'). I had months to prepare and I still forgot my lines. But, then again, I had a lot to say. In my defense, I never shut up, in this movie.

Katherine: What was so awesome was that he nailed every joke. It came off effortless, which is just awesome. It was super fun to watch.

TeenHollywood: How tough was it to get through some of this kind of raw dialogue with each other? This is an R-rated film.

Katherine: For me, I talk like that all the time, anyway. I try to actually rein that in, most of the time. That was just very freeing for me. I could just be me. But, I love raunchy humor. I just do. I don't know why. I should probably get a little more sophisticated, but I just think it's hilarious, and it's what makes me laugh the hardest and the most. I'm just not terribly precious about that sort of stuff, unless you're going really far. But, even then, it's still funny.

TeenHollywood: Gerard, what made you want to play this character?

Gerard: One of the main reasons I ended up doing this movie was that I was doing an action movie where I play very dark and brooding. At night, I would go to dinner with the guys from Lakeshore (Entertainment), and I would tell dirty jokes and be vulgar, and they kept going, 'The Ugly Truth.' I had never read the script and, finally, I read it and I went, 'Okay, I get it.' It took me a couple days to find my rhythm. The first day, playing the American accent and that kind of character, I was really nervous. I kept forgetting my lines. Every time I turned to Katie and had to play with her hair, I was so nervous. Once, I grabbed her breast. In the middle of the take, I said, 'Did I just touch your breast?'

Katherine: He just went to put his hand down and it was one of those accidental brushes.

Gerard: It was a Mike Chadway move. I must have been pretty method. Every time I went to grab her hair, I forgot and it was 'cause I was really pretty nervous about it. She's such a charismatic woman.

TeenHollywood: What do you think this movie says about the battle of the sexes?

Katherine: I would hope that it's an exaggeration of where men and women are at. I can't speak for men (although) I've been around a lot of men who joke like Mike Chadway, but don't actually believe that and, if they do, then they're very good actors. I know, for me, Abby is only a small exaggeration of women now, or at least me and my friends.

TeenHollywood: How is she like you?

Katherine: I went the whole 'make a list' route. I'm a little OCD. I'm very particular about how I like things and how I want things. I get that, deeply. I don't think you have to necessarily completely change who you are to be with someone that you want to be with, but you do have to compromise a little bit. You have to let go a little bit of yourself. There is just that fine line between desperate and honest.

Gerard: I think Katie is deeply flawed in her misunderstanding of the truth of what goes on in a lot of men's minds. Either that or she knows a way more sophisticated breed of male than I am, which wouldn't be difficult. We never know, as guys, what the hell women talk about when they go to the restroom. They always go to the restroom together. And, likewise, women never really know how guys think, and I think this is the first movie that really brings it up and strikes at the heart of it.

TeenHollywood: For example....?

Gerard: I know I'm going out on a limb here and ending my career, but it is almost impossible for a guy not to say, 'You know what? There are times when I just turn around and look at (a butt).' We do that. We're much more complicated than that, as well. What's beautiful and where the redemption is in the movie is that, through our games and our weaknesses and our flaws, (men and women) are after the same thing. We all want a partner. We all want companionship. We're all beautiful and all over the place, and it comes together really well. When this stuff is thrown out there, it's so shocking and unexpected, but the guys are like, 'Oh, thank God somebody said that,' and the women are like, 'You know what? I knew it!'

TeenHollywood: Okay, so what works? Should women call again, if the man doesn't call us back?

Katherine: No.

Gerard: No.

Katherine: (to Gerard) Would you want a woman to call you, not once, but twice, if you haven't returned a phone call?

Gerard: Yeah! Hey, I'm busy.

Katherine: Exactly why you should not call him back!

Gerard: This is why I'm single!

Katherine: (In her Gerry voice) 'I'm so busy! Call me six times and maybe I'll get back to you.'

Gerard: Listen, this is why it's called The Ugly Truth. There is an element of truth, in that the second that you think the girl is maybe not quite as keen, there is a little more, (big grin) 'Okay'! Sometimes, when it's there right in front of you, it's not as interesting. Is that right?

Katherine: It's true. It's true for women too though, isn't it? If you have a guy who is relentless and obviously so into it, and a puppy dog at your feet, then it's not as sexy and interesting as the guy who plays it a little cool. I talk to (my husband) Josh about this all the time. The next day (after a first date?) I waited until three o'clock, but I didn't wait for him to call me. I waited until three and I went, 'Sc**w it, I'm going to call him.' I called and invited him out to a friend's barbeque. He showed up and we had a great time, and it was on from there.

TeenHollywood: So then he started calling you?

Katherine: But, he played it really cool. It was at least a couple of months before and I was like, 'Does this guy like me as much as I like him?' It was very disconcerting, but it was intriguing, and I was so into it! He says now, and I think he's lying, that he was not trying to play it cool, that that was just how he was. I was like, 'Bullshit! You are not like that!' That was an act, but it worked so great. It was so mysterious and intriguing. And, I had to really fight for him to like me as much as I liked him. Again, there is a fine line between honest and desperate.

TeenHollywood: But does the honesty thing work?

Katherine: You can be honest with someone about your intentions, and how you feel about them, and you can get the, 'Thank you' and that's awful. Or, you can be honest and they reciprocate. Sometimes, it's just about risking it. What I loved about this movie is that Abby is really dorky, but I think that is what Mike really loved about her. She wasn't a perfect package of sex appeal. She did all the wrong things, but they were charming. That was who she is, and that's who Mike falls in love with.

Gerard: I thought it was interesting, the difference between the ways a guy thinks and a girl thinks, at times. When Katherine said, 'I waited till three o'clock to call him back,' I thought she was going to say, 'I waited until three o'clock before I got out of bed with him.'

Katherine: Nice. Oh, God!

Gerard: That's The Ugly Truth.

TeenHollywood: Katherine, you are married now. So what are the rules for you and Josh?

Katherine: I'm not very good at being a wife because I break all the rules. So does Josh, though, so whatever. At the end of the day, Josh is one of my all time favorite people. He's just such an awesome guy. There is always work and compromise, and stupid moments, like, 'Really? You can't put your Coke can in the trash? Really?' That will always exist, but I think the most important thing we've learned in the last year and a half is that this person is always on my side.

TeenHollywood: Awww, that's really cool!

Katherine: Even when we fight and it's rough, and we're tired and pissy with each other, this person is always on my side, and I'm always on his side. That is the one thing I think you cannot mess with. Even with all those under-handed, snarky little comments, and all the resentment that bursts at times, you have to remember that you're a team. There's nothing more valuable, in this world, than having that partner, and having that person on your side, because it gets kind of lonely, scary and weird out there. And, I love being able to go home to him.

TeenHollywood: Gerard, your character goes on the Craig Ferguson TV show in the film What's the challenge of working with him and maintaining your American accent?

Gerard: I love Craig, but trying to keep my American accent was a nightmare. I'm always on his show, and he plays my best friend in a DreamWorks movie I'm doing now, called How to Train your Dragon. It's a DreamWorks animated movie for kids. He plays Gobber. Anyway, 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. I remember being in this bar and speaking to this guy and he went, 'You're a f**king Yankee. What the f**k 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.

TeenHollywood: Yikes! Gerard, can you talk about your sci-fi film Gamer?

Gerard: It's an action thriller, set 10 or 15 years in the future where there is a world of gamers. They are now taking on a global dimension. The avatars they play are more organic. Nanotechnology in the future can control humans within the game. I play a prisoner on death row in a game called 'Slayers'. He's almost made it through to the end, and he would be the first person ever to do that. It's like 'We don't even need war anymore, let's just watch on television, and watch people blow the s**t out of each other.' It's fun for gamers, but at the same time, it's a bit of a comment on the lowering standards of morality that we have in society with the onslaught of technology and entertainment. It's awesome. It's very entertaining. It comes out in September.

Katherine:(to Gerard) Is it depressing though? This is where society is going?

Gerard: I don't think it is depressing. It's actually a fun and entertaining film. It's very violent. It won't be for every woman, but a lot of women I know have seen it and loved it because it's got a lot of guy juice. It's got that 300 thing going on, and a lot of women like 300. But, at the same time, it makes 300 look like a picnic, in terms of its violence. But, it's surprisingly brave. It's a beautifully painted, dark world that we've gone into. I don't think that anybody will have ever seen anything like it before.

TeenHollywood: Aren't you also in a comedy with Jennifer Aniston?

Gerard: Yeah. Bounty. I play an ex-cop turned bounty hunter who is going to arrest and bring in Jennifer Aniston who is a journalist on the run. What is lethally joyful to (my character) is that she's my ex-wife, I hate her and I can't think of anything else better in the world than to bring her ass back to jail. She's doing everything in her power to escape my grasp and get on to this case about police corruption that she's trying to solve. It's so much fun. She's incredible and I'm having a blast.

TeenHollywood: Katherine, don't you get to do some action in an upcoming film Five Killers?

Katherine: Yeah, but what is tragic is that Gerry looks awesome as an action person. I look like a moron. That is good because, in this particular movie. I'm not supposed to be good at it, but even when I wasn't trying to look dumb, I look dumb. I will never be an action star, that's for sure.

Gerard: That's good, because I look like a moron in this movie, so it's perfect.

Katherine: No, he doesn't. He's a genius.