Gerard Butler sobbed through own movie

Gerard Butler couldn't hold back the tears when watching How to Train Your Dragon 2.

The hunky Scottish actor is well known for the manly roles he portrays on the cinema screen, but Gerard says that the crying noises he made while watching his new animated flick were embarrassing.

Gerard, 44, is joined by Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse from the original 2010 movie, for another round of dragon action.

“There were very beautiful women [next to me in the theatre] and you want to maintain that macho exterior,” Gerard confessed to Rotten Tomatoes. “And literally at that point... I’m going, ‘I can’t believe that noise just came out of me.’ Especially because it’s my stuff. It’s bad enough getting caught crying at a movie, but getting caught crying at your own stuff…”

The second instalment also features the vocal talents of Cate Blanchett and Kit Harington, and tells the story of the tale’s heroes Hiccup and Toothless at the centre of a battle to protect the peace.

Kit, who is best known for his role as Jon Snow in smash hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, also warns audiences to bring their tissues.

"It's very important when you get these very kind of important themes running through a movie, which is actually, at the very heart of it, incredible entertainment. So you’re balancing both and I think it's important to say it's going to be an emotional ride. It's got some important themes running through it," he said.

"But also, it's got incredible 3D, it's got amazing animation that we've never seen before and it's an action packed movie. It's got so much to give to the whole family. That's the way I'd sell it!"