THE NATIONAL Theatre of Scotland has rubbished claims it uses a secret blacklist to stop undesirable actors from getting work.

Over the weekend, Rab C Nesbitt star Iain Robertson claimed someone from the company’s casting department had told him he was on a list of performers who would never be offered employment by the publicly funded body.

He added that in the 13 years since the National Theatre of Scotland’s creation he had received “not a single availability check” from bosses.

A spokeswoman for the theatre said that it “does not operate any kind of blacklist or indeed 'preferred list' of actors that would inform the casting processes/decisions made by the company”.

In his 26-year career Robertson has appeared in films and TV shows, including Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers.

He picked up a Bafta for best performance as the lead in Small Faces and in 2017 he joined the cast of River City, a BBC Scotland soap opera.

Speaking to The National yesterday, the actor said he had been told of the blacklist by a member of the casting department. 

Robertson said he had initially overheard a former prominent staff member of the company drunkenly talking about the ban.

"Then a couple of years later I was told to my face by somebody  who used to work in the casting department. 

"They were gushing about how much they admired me as an actor, and I said, ‘wait a minute then, why have I never been in’ and they told me there was a blacklist and I was on it . 

"When you consider here we are fourteen years after the national theatre was founded, and I have never had so much as an availability check never mind be called in to read for a part." 

The actor admitted that he may have had a difficult reputation in the past which could have prevented him from getting work.

But, he added, since speaking out he had been contacted by many other actors who said they too feared they were on a blacklist.

He said: “I have had a reputation in the past and I completely accept that, but there are people that have come forward to me, including one particular individual, who’s not only incredibly talented, but one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life.

“And a lot of people that have messaged me are absolutely outstanding human beings.”

He added: “If it was because they don’t rate me, because they know that I’ve had addiction issues, or because they think I’m not worth the hassle, that’s absolutely fine. I would take that on the chin.

“There are people who do know me and who do like me and who do like to work with me again and again.

“The reason I’m speaking up here is not because I’m hoping for a job, it’s because it’s just outrageous to me the amount of very fine actors that I am seeing not even getting a sniff at the National Theatre of Scotland.

“You can’t say, ‘oh yeah, they’ve all been problematic’.

“It seems incredibly willy nilly, but one of the things I’m keen to establish is if there is a discriminatory factor at play here. Is it just your luck or are they discriminating against particular individuals for almost no reason at all?”

A spokeswoman for the company said: “The National Theatre of Scotland does not operate any kind of ‘blacklist’ or indeed ‘preferred list’ of actors that would inform the casting processes/decisions made by the company.

“The National Theatre of Scotland is committed to an inclusive and diverse casting policy and practice, details of which which can be viewed on the Company’s website.”

That policy says the theatre, which was formed in 2006, employs “the very best available talent for every role”.

They add: “We have a responsibility to consider and cast where possible (and appropriate) native Scottish and Scottish-based performers, and we are committed to the development of those individuals based in Scotland and beyond.

“The National Theatre of Scotland believes in including artists from diverse backgrounds and cultures (on the basis of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and whether they are drama school trained or not) in all its work.

“Where we are casting for a role that is culturally specific, we are committed to casting a performer from that culture. However we consider artists from diverse backgrounds for every role."