1 MY GIRLS

I met my other half, Maisey, about six years ago when she was in a musical I was directing. I was smitten and we are now engaged to be married.

On March 20 last year we had Alba Rae Jack and she has changed our lives beyond recognition. I was 47-years-old when she was born, so not a young dad. I thought maybe I had left it too late and fatherhood had passed me by, but it is the best thing I ever did. Everybody tells you how amazing it is and also what hard work it is but nothing prepares you for it.

She is a wee force of nature and has given me a completely different sense of purpose. Now I don’t get so affected by not getting jobs. I just have to dust myself down and move on for her. She has redefined my focus and keeps me young. She’s full of beans and just gorgeous. I know we are biased but she is!

She has already had an audition as she went for a Wet Wipes commercial. It felt weird because you are watching these corporate people from a well-known company judge your daughter. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with it.

If she wants to be an actor when she is older we will not stop her but if she wants to be a vet or a lawyer I think that will be a relief!

2 PARTICK

I feel like I won the lottery with my friends and family and where I was brought up.

I was born and bred in Partick and it is the place I always go back to.  I love the feel of the area and love going to the pub and seeing my old pals from primary school. I lived in London for 28 years and I missed the patter. Going back into it and getting the gallows humour and the you-know-what ripped out of me reminds me what an amazing place it is. Glasgow in general but that place in particular has had a massive influence on my life.

I was not academic and did a lot of dead end jobs but my friends have been with me through the crap jobs, drama school and the successful bit.

Growing up there also helped me in my work as I play a lot of darker characters like drug dealers and thugs and some of the people I was aware of in the area when I was growing up feed into these parts.

3 BOYS’ BRIGADE

My brother, cousin and I were all in it and I made friendships for life. It gave me structure and a place to go and taught me about self-discipline.

When I go back to Partick now there seems to be very little for young people by comparison.

There was a pipe band and I was brought up around pipes and drums although I wasn’t talented enough to play the pipes. I ended up being a drummer and we used to travel all over Scotland to compete and even won the 1990 World Championships in Grade 4.  There was a performance element to it but it was more about the camaraderie and the structure it gave to my life.

I wasn’t taken with the Biblical elements of it as I thought that was a bit stuffy and sitting in church on a Sunday almost felt like the worst part of it.

Every summer we went to Guernsey – I think I went about eight or nine times and to travel like that was an amazing thing when you are just a boy. We used to camp in a big field – 40 tearaways but we had to have clean uniforms and keep our tents tidy.

Boys’ Brigade taught me a lot about the importance of respect and structure. The musical and marching side has come in handy in my acting too.

4 MUSIC

As a working class Glaswegian family, music played a bit part in our lives. At Hogmanay at my granny’s everyone had to do their song and I remember everyone singing Frank Sinatra and Sidney Devine.

My older sister, Lorna, was into the Cure, Psychedelic Furs and U2 while my brother, David, was more mainstream and liked everything from heavy metal to Ultravox. My mum and dad used to go to see people like Neil Diamond and Diana Ross so I was brought up around a lot of different kinds of music.

I became obsessed with 80s bands and I still go and see them.

Despite the fact that I play these hard characters I got a scholarship to go and train in musical theatre at drama school although by the end of it I was more interested in the nuts and bolts of acting than singing and dancing.

 5 DRAMA SCHOOL

I won a three-year scholarship in 1992 to go to Mountview in London - one of the top drama schools in the world, which has taught Scots like Douglas Henshall and Ken Stott.

I was filling shelves, working in bars and doing mundane office jobs but I also took up amateur dramatics and a few people told me I could go further.

Getting the scholarship changed the course of my life. Discovering I had a talent for something was a huge thing and opened up a completely different world to me. I have met the most remarkable people and travelled the world as a result.

I loved drama school although there was a competitive element and a bit of bitchiness but that toughens you up.

I’m grateful for the opportunity Mountview gave me because I wouldn’t have been able to afford it without the scholarship.

6 MOVING TO LONDON

I struggled with homesickness really badly for around two years. I missed my friends and family but I knew that if I was going to do this I would have to live in London. It’s changed now but when I started the advice was to stay in London.

I nearly walked away after the first year. London can be quite a cold place to live and I struggled with that but I stuck it out and most of the work I have done has been because I lived there.

We moved out the city a year ago to the Essex coast. I’m established more as an actor to some degree now so I don’t have to live there any more and I didn’t want to raise Alba in London.

We have talked about coming home and I think when Scotland finally gets the film studio built there will be a lot more opportunities. There is so much talent up there not just amongst the actors, writers and directors but the technical side too.

But Essex is a good place with a lot of energy and a little bit of an edge as well. When I am out with our old French bulldog the vast majority of people will greet you. If I speak to them they are receptive but you don’t find that in London.

7 TRAINSPOTTING

I read the book when I was at drama school, then I saw the play with Ewen Bremner as Renton at the Bush Theatre in London. I was doing singing and dancing at this point and pushed to audition for things like Les Miserables but I sat and watched this and my jaw dropped. It was so edgy and ground breaking and I immediately wanted to be in it.

They started casting for the film the week I left drama school and I found out who the casting director was and went on knocked on her door and said I wanted to be in it. She told me it wasn’t a normal way for people to go about it but I got an audition for it although I never got it.  I was gutted but they decided to take the play back out on the back of the film and I was cast as Begbie and Gerard Butler was Renton.

That changed my life. I really enjoyed playing this sort of psychopathic, crazy fellow and it made me realise I could go up on stage and act without going into song or dance. It defined what I could be as an actor and being able to speak Irvine Welsh’s words was amazing.

It was a real gift for a young actor to play that part in an iconic Scottish novel. Ten or 11 years ago I directed Trainspotting in London as well so it keeps coming back into my life.

8 MY FIRST FILM

At the age of 39 I was almost at the point where I thought the opportunity to do a film had passed me by. I had done a lot of theatre and TV but did not seem to be an actor that came to mind when people were casting films.

That changed for me when I auditioned for the Dark Knight Rises, the third Batman film in that series - although all I knew at the time was that it was a blockbuster as everything was kept under wraps.

Gary Oldman is a hero of mine and there I was on set doing a couple of scenes with him. I only had a few lines but it was a defining moment because once you have a big blockbuster on your CV you tend to get looked at for more things like that.

Since then I’ve done about a dozen films, including What Happened to Monday with Glenn Close, and I’ve just been working with Guy Ritchie on his latest film and just worked in LA for the first time.

I am not sure these opportunities would have come had I not got the Dark Knight Rises.  It was a turning point and it gave me confidence that I could hold my own with people that are fantastically talented. It emboldened me a bit and that has been a help.

9 DOGS

I have been obsessed with them since I was a kid when we had a Westie. I bought a French bulldog in 2007 and Melvin has given me companionship, love and affection.

Apparently dog lovers have a chemical in their brain that makes them love dogs more than most and whatever it is I have a lot of it. I do a lot of charity work for a charity called Futures for Dogs. I run crazy assault courses to raise money and judge dog competitions.

My little dog has changed my life because of the joy he brings me and the responsibility I have for him. I’ve been up and down on that train to Glasgow with him dozens of times and he’s been in studios and theatres with me.

When I was single and on tour my mum and dad would look after him but I always had to put him on a diet afterwards.

10 EXERCISE

This is another thing I am obsessed with. I have always been interested in exercise. It’s a family trait. My father passed away when he was 79 in 2016 – cancer took him in just three months - but right up until he was diagnosed he was in the gym four or five days a week. He loved it and that rubbed off as my brother is a personal trainer and my sister is a choreographer.

For me it is weightlifting and that has helped me get the parts I’ve played. I just knew when I played Begbie that I had found a niche that could keep me working.

I have 18 tattoos, all with a Scottish theme. I’ve got the lyrics to Caledonia on my ribs, the lyrics to Scotland the Brave on my bicep and Made in Scotland on my collarbone. Because I do weightlifting I am quite bulky and look like I can take care of myself.

I have found exercise has helped keep me working but it has mental health benefits as well.

I work out a minimum of five days a week for about two hours a day. For some people that might seem a huge amount of discipline but I have never done a work out I have not enjoyed.

Hand on heart there is also a bit of vanity there as well as I have to stay in shape. I think my physique gives me a competitive edge although I’ve maybe lost the odd job as well because I look too threatening.

Yesterday I got so bored with this lockdown I got my missus to shave my head so now I really do look like a thug.

I struggled a few weeks ago when the gyms closed but a pal dropped off around 140kilos of weights so I am out five days a week in the garden working out.