Storyman

Was it always your ambition to be an actor, and was it a straightforward route for you to reach the stage?

I'd never had it in my mind to be an actor, but one thing I didn't want to be was a shipyard labourer, which I was, so that was the main drive. My father was an actor, so I knew the pitfalls of it as well as the good bits. So, I thought that was the route I would take. But it's very difficult to tell when people are trying to wing it because it's all subjective.

But I've never really had a plan in my life. If I try to make plans they immediately go wrong. So, I just let fate or God, take me where they want me to go.

Tell us a little about what you will be doing at the festival.

I’m looking forward to meeting people who read, and talking about my career - the ups and downs of it, and the interesting people I've met along life's path.

Over 130 Hollywood movies, what sort of roles were you getting in the early days?

I tended to play Bigfoot lumps. I did a lot of tough-guy stuff. I could ride horses, so did an awful lot of stuff on horses. In fact, if you look at me from behind, my backside is actually saddle-shaped.

And then I tried to deny middle age as long as possible. But it arrived anyway, and I found that you actually start to play more interesting and deeper characters. And that's a wonderful thing about being an actor, you can act until you fall over.

Which was your favourite movie horse?

I think the one from Braveheart. I had a wonderful horse for the film. It came over from Spain - a chestnut with a white blaze. It was like a Ferrari, a living, breathing Ferrari. He was something else. He was a wonderful horse. I cried my eyes out when they took him away.

What role do you look back on with the greatest pleasure?

I think maybe Troy, because my family was with me. We were out in Mexico, and it coincided with my son’s school holidays. We had eight weeks together as a family in a lovely part of Mexico. It was gorgeous – beautiful.

What advice would you offer to young Scots, hoping for an acting career today?

If you believe you have that talent to be an actor, you've got to be aware that it's a tough business, and tenacity is very, very important. Acting is full of rejection. Every job you go up for and don’t get, gives you that feeling of rejection.

You've got to be able to accept that and move on, knowing that it's not about you. You have just got to keep going and keep as many of your arrows as sharp as possible. A lot comes down to being fit, sober, diligent, working hard at a script – knowing that script backwards, forwards, every way. And always have a second string to your bow.

What's next in your career?

I’ve got a few things coming up. I've got a six-part thriller called Nightsleeper with the BBC, which starts in the autumn. I think it'll be very good. I've got a three-part series for Amazon, filmed in Glasgow, with Martin Compson called Fear. So, you'll be able to sit up and watch the whole lot, and I think you should because it's very tense and exciting. And at the moment, I'm dashing around doing different things with the Storyman whisky I’ve been creating with Annan Distillery.