Gerard Butler Opens Up About Wanting a Family in Five Years: 'It's About Time'

In his new action film Geostorm, Gerard Butler plays a scientist fighting to save the world from storms of epic proportions, namely for the safety of his young daughter.

While Butler doesn’t have any children of his own, the actor, 47, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that he’d like to become a father in the not too distant future.

“In five years I want to be in a relationship,” Butler says. “I’d love to have one or two kids — it’s about time.”

Though the eligible bachelor, who previously dated interior designer Morgan Brown, is enjoying being single right now and finding some time to date, he says “it has been hard to get much done” romantically with his hectic work schedule. With five movies currently in the works, including Angel Has Fallen (the third installment of the Olympus Has Fallen series) and action thriller Den of Thieves, he admits, “I have no personal life.”

RELATED: Gerard Butler Recounts Details Of Recent Motorcycle Crash: ‘It Hurt A Bit’

In the future, though, Butler says he wants “to be more run by my personal life than my career.”

When Butler does get a day off, he enjoys “getting on a motorbike, putting a tent on the back and going to Sequoia National Park to camp and hike.” After his recent motorcycle accident in Los Angeles last week that sent him to the hospital, the actor showed up in good spirits to the Geostorm premiere in Hollywood on Monday. His rep confirms that he’s doing “fine.”

“My stomach aches when I think about nature and adventure,” he says. “I have a place out in Malibu right now but [in five years], I want to have a place in North Carolina or somewhere that I spend more time in nature.”

Geostorm crashes into theaters Oct. 20.