14 Super Smart Celebs Who Attended Medical, Law, Or Dental School (And If They Actually Graduated)

In 2018, he told The Late Show with Stephen Cobert, "I studied law for five years, and then I trained as a lawyer for two years...I trained with this big firm in Scotland — the Queen's solicitors, Andrew Carnegie's estate. But I went in, I actually almost missed my...They were the last big firm to interview, and I missed my interview because of my last exam. I got completely drunk, and I woke up, missed the interview...Missed this big interview. I thought, 'I'll just tell my mum I went in and didn't get it.' So I called them and said, 'I'm so sorry I missed it.' They said, 'No, you can still make it. Get on a train.' So I have to get on a train, and I go there, and I'm so hungover. And I ended up getting the job. Three of us got the job out of like 175 people or something."

However, he was "desperately unhappy" in the job and ended up losing it.

He told Esquire, "I became quite infamous in Scottish legal circles. It's very difficult to be fired as a trainee lawyer — they just don't qualify you at the end of two years. But they actually fired me one week before I was due to qualify. I should have seen it coming. The Edinburgh Festival was going. I knew I wasn't going to make it through the festival because it's crazy — comedy festivals, music festivals, dancing festivals, and, more than anything, drinking festivals. The city is aglow. I went to see a production of Trainspotting. The lead character acts in the scene, steps back and narrates, and then jumps back into the scene. The guy playing the lead role was phenomenal. It was such an incredible atmosphere. And I'm dying inside. This is the life I wanted to live. 'I can do this. I know I can do this. But it's past now. It's gone. I'm 25. I missed that opportunity.' A week later, they fire me."

He moved to London, where he knew a casting director. He worked in telemarketing, but she let him help her hand out pages for a Steven Berkoff play. When Gerard ran into Steven, he asked to read for the production and ended up getting the lead role.