You know when the joke is so good that even HR wants to hear it? Well, something similar happened with Gerard Butler when the Scottish actor collaborated with Angelina Jolie in the 2003 sequel of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. 

While the two seemed to have great chemistry in front of the cameras and got along amiably enough off the screens too, Butler, 53, once said something rather demeaning in the guise of a joke about the Maleficent star’s acting skills, or as the former’s joke went, lack thereof.

"It was a complete joke": Angelina Jolie's Co-star From $157 Million Movie Paid a Heavy Price For Insulting Her Acting Skills

But the Olympus Has Fallen actor probably regretted his choice of words as soon as they left his mouth because little did he know, he was going to face quite the backlash for it all.

Lesson learned – don’t mess around with Hollywood’s finest.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

Gerard Butler’s Joke About Angelina Jolie Landed Him in Trouble 

After Lara Croft: Tomb Raider took off at the global box office, grossing a colossal sum of around $274 million, the franchise released a sequel titled Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life.

Based on Core Design’s popular video game series of the same name, the Tomb Raider film series became one of Angelina Jolie’s most successful projects in her career with the titular heroine bagging the Oscar winner her breakout role.

While the 47-year-old actress partnered up with Casino Royale star Daniel Craig for the 2001 film, the sequel placed Jolie alongside a new co-star, actor and producer, Gerard Butler.

And though the duo turned out to be a great match on-screen, the reality behind the veil was perhaps a bit different, especially since the Greenland star took a shot at Jolie’s acting abilities.

Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler and Angelina Jolie

Talking about his experience of working with one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses on The Cradle of Life, Butler quipped how he had to dumb it down during the film for Jolie so that he could arrive on the same page as her.

“I sat down and said, ‘Hey, you know, she may have won the Oscar, but I think I really had to bring my acting down to do these scenes with her.’”

Although he clarified that his comment was nothing but “a complete joke” along with the fact that Jolie was “cool” about it, the London Has Fallen star still faced rather grave consequences for the same.

So much so, that Paramount, the production company associated with The Cradle of Life, made Butler take up an intensive “media training course” as means of chastising him.

But as Butler pointed out, Jolie and he apparently had no issues whatsoever and even struck up a friendly cord on the film’s set.

Angelina Jolie And Gerard Butler’s Equation in Tomb Raider‘s Sequel

While the Mr. & Mrs. Smith star believed Butler’s character turned out to be a perfect match for Lara Croft, the latter too, sang high praise of Jolie.

“Angelina came up and as soon as we said hello, I thought, This is going to be great,” the 300 actor told IGN. “I’m really going to love doing this with her. And I did. And then I was very excited to do the movie after that.”

Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler

Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)

Talking about the stunts, Butler revealed just how much he “loved” training for them and also expressed his intrigue regarding Jolie’s training. “I also loved watching her doing her stunts, and I loved watching her train.

She trained really hard. And it was nothing but an inspiration to me,” he said. What’s more, he also claimed that both he and Jolie were constantly encouraging each other throughout difficult stunts while filming the movie.

Friends or not, however, Butler certainly paid the price for his supposed joke about her.