Gerard Butler has joked he couldn't wash dishes over Christmas as he was still so shaken after his surfing accident.

The actor had a near-death experience at infamous Northern California surf spot Maverick's in December. He was held under water by a huge wave and then rushed to hospital when he was finally plucked from the sea.

Afterwards Gerard returned home to Scotland, where he used the incident to his advantage.

"I play it like that, but I don't really get away with it," he replied, when asked if his A-list status means he doesn't have to help cook at Christmas. "Although I do feel that this year I was a little bit lazy. There were a couple of times when I saw people in the kitchen and I thought, I could be doing a little bit more.' To me though, what I've just been through you're lucky I'm here. And you're going to ask me it's washing up! It's water! I can't even see the water, any kind of foam, what if I fall in?!"

The actor is promoting his latest movie Coriolanus, which is based on the William Shakespeare play. Ralph Fiennes plays the title character and also directed the picture, while Gerard is Tullus Aufidius.

Gerard hopes the film will encourage people to read more of the famed playwright's work, as well as boosting his acting CV.

"I was sent the script it was so filmic, it was just perfect and you really could immediately see yourself as that character and you could see Ralph as Coriolanus. It's very accessible and easy to follow," he told UK TV show Lorraine.

"You always have different reasons for choosing roles. Some are for fun and this came along and I thought, Well, you know what? I'm not exactly known for my Shakespeare!'"