Paul had a very hard life. Every day I regret what his mum and I put him through
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-heroin addict father of Scot who wowed Cannes tells of family’s torment
ONE is the toast of Cannes, while the other battles drug addiction, seeking any distraction to prevent him going back on heroin.
Both share the same name – Paul Brannigan – but while the younger has shot to overnight fame as the star of the most talked-about new movie at the international film festival, the elder is hoping he can now play more than a bit part in his son’s life.
The father and son have barely spoken in years and were only recently reunited after Brannigan Snr’s decision six months ago to kick a 30-year drug habit.
It is a period that Brannigan Jnr – whose chaotic childhood led to him becoming a gang member and spending time in jail for firing a gun – spoke of with candour in Cannes, as he rubbed shoulders with Hollywood A-listers.
Last night, his father spoke for the first time of his pride at his 25-year-old son’s starring role in Ken Loach’s new movie The Angels’ Share – in the running to win the coveted Palme D’Or award today.
The 44-year-old also told of his deep regret at failing him as a father and putting his own selfish interests ahead of his two young sons. The situation was compounded by the fact the boys’ mother was also an addict.
Brannigan Snr said: ‘Paul had a very hard life. There is never a day goes by now that I don’t feel sorry about what his mum and I put him through. But I am so proud at what he has managed to do. He’s a good boy who got mixed up in some things he shouldn’t have because we weren’t there for him. That’s something I have to live with for the rest of my life. But look at him now, there’s no holding him back.
‘I’m still struggling to take it in. It seems so surreal to think of my son at Cannes, mixing with some of the most famous people in the world. I love him so much – he’s just amazing.’
Loach’s scriptwriter Paul Laverty came across Brannigan Jnr in a Glasgow community centre where he was volunteering as a football coach as part of a police initiative to keep young people off the streets and out of prison.
Invited to audition for the comedy about a malt whisky heist, Brannigan twice failed to turn up. He was eventually persuaded by the promise of cash, as he had taken out a loan to pay for Christmas presents and had no means of paying it back.
Loach was impressed and cast him in the lead role as Robbie.
Brannigan Snr said: ‘We did our best as parents, but we were more interested in ourselves and where we were going to get our drugs than worrying about our sons. I had been on drugs since the age of 11. I started off smoking cannabis and then moved on to the harder stuff.’
He became a father at 18 when his girlfriend Anne gave birth to Paul. David, now 22, arrived three years later, born into a life in Glasgow’s East End dominated by heroin.
Brannigan Snr, who finally split from his long-term partner when he decided to come off drugs and she refused, said: ‘Now that I’m off drugs, it is something I feel very ashamed of. It might be too late but I just wish I could make it up to both of my sons now and be more involved in their lives.’
Brannigan Jnr was drawn into a world of violence as a member of the local gang, the Camlachie Torch.
There were regular fights with rival gang the Barrow-
field Spur – and by the age of 16 he had been sentenced to three years and eight months at the High Court in Glasgow for discharging a weapon during an incident after a member of the Brannigan family was allegedly attacked and stabbed.
On his release, he began to assist Strathclyde Police in initiatives to combat gang culture in Glasgow.
Still estranged from his mother, Brannigan Jnr now has a three–year–old son, Leo, with his partner Sheree Coutts, 26.
Hailed as a genuine talent at Cannes, his next film will see him star with Scarlett Johansson later this year in Under the Skin, the film version of the cult sci-fi thriller which was shot in Scotland.
Last night, back in Barrowfield with his father, he said: ‘I’m going to make the most of this opportunity – there’s no going back. When I look at what I was before, I just think how crazy I was to get caught up in all of that gang stupidity. Why? There’s so much more out there, the world is bigger than that and I’m not going to waste the second chance that’s been given to me.
‘My life could have been over before it had really begun and I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes.’
The actor has been approached by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who sees an opportunity to use him in the fight against crime.
Brannigan Jnr said: ‘I’ve been invited along to an anti-crime initiative and I’m happy to help in any way I can. I dealt with kids linked to 105 gangs across Glasgow and worked with them to try to show them how stupid that life was and to
‘I’m happy to help in
any way I can’
help change their views. If the Government want to use me to do some good, that’s fine by me.’
His father said: ‘Paul’s got a magnetism about him which draws people in. That’s what people will see on screen and that’s what he used to convince young boys to turn their backs on gang fighting. He’s a natural at everything he does.’
But tensions still exist between the two. Brannigan Jnr said: ‘My dad knows what he did and what he needs to do. It’s great we’re talking again, but I think people will understand when I say we’re taking each day as it comes.
‘When you’ve been hurt and let down as many times as I have by him, it’s difficult to trust. I’m not prepared to open myself up to more hurt until I know he’s really going to stay off drugs and be a proper dad.’