Photo: WENN.com

Gerard Butler had to spend time in hospital over the weekend (Dec 18-19), after injuring himself filming a surfing stunt for his latest movie, Of Men and Mavericks.

The '300' star was filming in northern California when he was felled by a huge wave, which left him struggling to keep his head above water.

Writing a post on his ESPN Action Sports blog, surfer Frank Quirarte said: "Butler was held down for a solid two-waves and took four or five more waves on the head.

"He was then washed through the rocks on the inside before he was finally able to be plucked out. When they brought Butler in he had that 100-yard stare that surfers get after a two-wave hold (down) or near death experience."

Butler was taken to Stanford University Medical Centre, where he was checked over for injuries and then released.

His rep told ET Online: "He's fine. Very scary. They brought him to Stanford University. More scary than anything. For precaution, we all wanted him checked out after it all happened. Came out with flying colours."

Of Men and Mavericks is due for release on October 26, 2012.