HOLLYWOOD star Gerard Butler surprised a Colwyn Bay cinema audience with a special message.

Film fans were at Theatr Colwyn, for a screening of the thriller ‘The Vanishing’ which he stars in.

Celyn Jones, the film’s co-writer and executive producer, introduced the film and was about to do a Q&A session, when he surprised the audience at the Abergele Road venue by playing a voice message the Scottish actor had recorded for them.

Speaking from Malibu, California,the star of movies including 300, PS I Love You and Olympus Has Fallen said he wished he could have joined Celyn in Colwyn Bay for the screening and hoped the audience had a great night watching ‘The Vanishing’.

A spokesperson for Theatr Colwyn said: “We were amazed when Celyn said he had a message from Gerard Butler to play to the audience.

"Everyone was delighted to hear it.

“It was very thoughtful of Gerard to do it. It’s not every day a Hollywood actor sends a message to an independent cinema in North Wales!

“Huge thanks to Celyn, our Patron, for his continued support of Theatr Colwyn and for the screening such an extra special evening.”

Gerard has received international critical acclaim for his role in in The Vanishing, playing lighthouse keeper James Ducat.

Based on actual events, it tells the story of three lighthouse keepers who arrive for work on a remote Scottish isle, where they make a fateful discovery: a wrecked rowboat – with a chest full of gold.

As a mysterious boat heads towards the island, the three men make a choice that will change their lives forever, ensnaring them in a web of greed, paranoia and murder.