Martian invasion...and it playing a Scots Tory PM
Glaswegian accent for role but found his voice on rugby pitches of the Borders
– Actor Robert Carlyle
budget and special effects, the actor admitted he drew on the skills he honed at the very start of his career when playing the legendary character first created by the Brothers Grimm. He said: “There was so much green screen acting and I had to get my head around it. But then it’s almost like you go back to the theatre where you have to suspend your disbelief in that situation and just direct your energy into your own head.
“I think you have to do the same thing when it comes to green or blue screen acting.
“You just suspend the fact it’s there and in a strange way, even though it’s very technical, you can employ the same theatrical techniques to that work.”
That said, it has been a while since he trod the boards. Carlyle set up Glasgow theatre company Raindog, with Caroline Paterson and Sandy Nelson in the early 1990s. But acclaimed roles in low-budget flicks like Priest, Riff Raff and Carla’s Song saw his film career bloom.
His CV now includes everything from James Bond movies to T2 Trainspotting, in which he reprised his role as Irvine Welsh’s psychopath Francis Begbie. He also played John Lennon in last year’s Danny Boyle’s Beatles-inspired flick Yesterday, which also featured Lily James and Himesh Patel.
Yet Carlyle hasn’t written off theatre – and has one ambition in particular which would see him return to Scotland.
He said: “I would love to work with Laura Fraser together in a production of Macbeth, and have said before that I think it would be a great for the National Theatre of Scotland.
“I have said so before, and not heard anything. But I’m a huge fan of Laura’s.”
Cobra, Sky One, Friday, 9pm
looked knackered, like a skeleton. You couldn’t help but feel for her going through that