Gerard Butler plays singing Santa in latest film

Gerard Butler fans are used to seeing the Scottish actor swoop in to save the day in action films like Olympus Has Fallen and Plane. But in his latest film, the 55-year-old actor takes on a somewhat different role – a singing, sometimes rapping, Santa Claus. Butler voices St Nick in The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland, an animated musical film adaption of the children's picture book by Carys Bexington and Kate Hindley.

The story is a mash-up between the poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and Alice in Wonderland and sees St Nick travelling to Wonderland to deliver a gift and finding himself in trouble with a Christmas-hating Queen of Hearts. "This is a little fun animated film, not the thing I would normally do or be expected to do, but I loved the opportunity to do different performances in different arenas," Butler told Reuters. "The whole family is going to be smiling and I want to be a part of those things."

The screenplay for the film, which features Bridgerton actor Simone Ashley as Alice and Game of Thrones alumni Emilia Clarke as the "Queen of Hearts", is entirely in rhyming couplets.

"To be honest, the whole thing was kind of a challenge so you just throw (it) all in the same box," said Butler, who is also known for action epic 300 and the animated How to Train Your Dragon films. "I've got to sing these crazy songs. I've got to do a rap in which I cannot breathe. So there were a lot of challenges but fun ones."

Asked if he planned to make more Christmas films in the future, Butler said: "They are talking about doing a second one of this... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say, but we already have a story of where does Santa go next, what other fairy tale character (does he meet), could he embark on a mission? And... (from) what I've heard so far, it sounds amazing."

The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland is released on Sky Cinema on Friday. REUTERS