Gerard Butler was shooting a new film alongside two competitive surfers when he went underwater. 
 
 Action star Gerard Butler survived a near-drowning Sunday when he was walloped by a set of massive waves at the treacherous northern California surfing mecca Mavericks. 
 
 The actor was working on a scene for the upcoming flick “Of Men and Mavericks” with his surfing co-stars, when the group’s attempt to play it safe landed them smack in front of a punishing wall of water. 
 
 “We were just paddling in what’s usually a calmer area, but a freak, rogue set broke through,” surfer Zach Wormhoudt told the Daily News. “I’ve been surfing out there for 20 years, and you rarely see sets break like that. It was like a perfect storm. It was a real big set, maybe 12 to 16 feet.” 
 
 Butler, 42, was held underwater for two waves and washed through some rocks while tethered to his 10-foot surfboard, Wormhoudt said. 
 
 “He was down at least 20, maybe 40 seconds. It’s traumatic because you’re rolling around a bunch with lots of rocks on the inside of the break — called the bone yard,” he said. “We all went through that.” 
 
 Thankfully, a safety patrolman on a jetski sprung into action and plucked Butler from the frigid water, Wormhoudt said. 
 
 “He was pretty awesome,” Wormhoudt said of Butler. “I was stoked that he didn’t panic. He basically acted like he’d been surfing a long time. He remained calm and kept his composure.” 
 
 An ESPN photographer covering the filming greeted the actor at the shore. 
 
 “He had that 100-yard stare that surfers get after a two-wave hold-down or near-death experience,” photographer Frank Quirarte wrote on ESPN.com. 
 
 Butler was taken to nearby Stanford Medical Center for observation and later released. 
 
 “Some people are cocky about Mavericks, and then if they’re humbled by the waves, they go away with their tail between their legs. (Butler) was the opposite. He was respectful and humble going in, and after it happened, he was the same way,” Wormhoudt said. 
 
 “He was joking about it, but he realized the potential involved,” he said. 
 
 Wormhoudt said he’s not sure if Butler has to go back in the water. 
 
 “It was close to done, so they may already have what they need,” he said. 
 
 Butler, who played King Leonidas in the blockbuster hit “300,” portrays surfer Frosty Hesson in the upcoming movie about big-wave surf legend Jay Moriarity. 
 
 Moriarity was a Santa Cruz, Calif., surfer who burst on the Mavericks scene at age 16 and later died in a free-diving accident the day before his 23rd birthday in 2001. 
 
 The film, due out next fall, focuses on his brief but legendary surfing career and his apprenticeship with Hesson. 
 
 ndillon@nydailynews.com ||||| Actor Gerard Butler - filming a movie about the Mavericks surf contest near Half Moon Bay - had to be rescued from 12-foot waves and taken to the hospital over the weekend. 
 
 Butler, 42, was held under the water by strong currents as a series of waves hit him. 
 
 A film crew worker on a personal watercraft grabbed Butler and transported him to the area near the Pillar Point Harbor launch ramp, Assistant Harbormaster John Draper said. There, he received medical treatment from the Coastside Fire Protection District and the San Mateo County Harbor District before he was transported to Stanford Hospital. 
 
 Local authorities did not release his name, which was later confirmed by the Associated Press. He has been released from the hospital. 
 
 Butler and the crew have been filming "Of Men and Mavericks" along the Half Moon Bay coastline for over a month. The incident happened Sunday afternoon while Butler was paddling out with other surfers. 
 
 The film tells the story of Jay Moriarty, a young Santa Cruz surfer who became famous surfing Mavericks at 16, but died in a free-diving accident at 22. 
 
 Butler - who has starred in movies such as "300," "P.S. I Love You" and "The Ugly Truth" - plays Santa Cruz's Pleasure Point surfer Frosty Hesson, a mentor to Moriarty, played by Jonny Weston. 
 
 This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
– A safety worker on a jetski saved actor Gerard Butler from dying at a northern California surf spot that has claimed the lives of pros. Butler, 42, was filming a scene at Mavericks for upcoming movie Of Men and Mavericks when a freak set of waves, some higher than 12 feet tall, hit him and the three professional surfers he was with, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The waves held Butler—an inexperienced surfer—underwater and dragged him through rocks. He was hospitalized after the rescue, then released. "He was down at least 20, maybe 40 seconds. It’s traumatic because you’re rolling around a bunch with lots of rocks on the inside of the break—called the bone yard,” co-star Zach Wormhoudt, a pro surfer, tells the New York Daily News. "We all went through that." Butler was "pretty awesome," he says. "I was stoked that he didn’t panic. He basically acted like he’d been surfing a long time. He remained calm and kept his composure." Of Mavericks tells the tale of legendary big-wave surfer Jay Moriarty, who died in a diving accident in 2001 at the age of 22. Butler has the role of Frosty Hesson, his mentor.