Gerard Butler goes from action hero to singing Santa in Christmas mash-up

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 movie, the 55-year-old plays 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 of the poems "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Alice in Wonderland." It sees St. Nick traveling to Wonderland to deliver a gift and finding himself in trouble with a Christmas-hating Queen of Hearts.

"This is a little fun animated movie, not be 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 will 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 the action epic "300" and the animated "How to Train Your Dragon" movies.

"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 Santa goes 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" will be released on Sky Cinema on Friday.