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RAINSPOTTING

Drugs film stars team up for Skids frontman's first
movie

Siobhan Synott

TRAINSPOTTING stars Ewen Bremner and Kevin McKidd take a welcome break from filming on a rainswept Scottish beach.

Ewen, Spud in the cult movie, settles down on a rock for a bit of reading. While Kevin, who played Tommy, chats to director and former Skids star Richard Jobson next to public benches.

Nearby, rising Scots actress Laura Fraser, 26, bundled up in cosy scarf and waterproof jacket, gossips to a pal on her mobile phone.

They are in the middle of shooting 16 Years of Alcohol - the first flick directed by Richard - on the beach near the harbour of the beautiful village of Aberdour in Fife.

But the Scots climate soon caused havoc with filming - with the sun breaking through the steady drizzle. They'll have to re-shoot earlier scenes so the weather matches.

Richard, 42, said: "It's the Scottish weather that drove Mel Gibson mad when he did Braveheart here. It changes so much in minutes."

Laura, who was in A Knight's Tale with Hollywood hunk Heath Ledger, is unfazed. Pulling up her hood to protect her from the wind, she said, laughing: "It's funny how Scottish people are always surprised by the rain.

"After all, this is Scotland so we know that at some point in the day it's going to rain."

The low-budget project and unglamorous location might seem an odd choice for the three actors, who have all enjoyed big movie successes in the last 12 months.

Kevin, 28, was last seen in Dog Soldiers, the black comedy horror that topped the UK box-office, while Ewen, 31, has starred in two blockbusting American war movies - Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down.

Laura had a role in Vanilla Sky, which stars Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz. She won this year's Bowmore Scottish Screen Award for Best Actress.

A strong script and a large dose of Jobson charm seems to have been their main reasons for signing up.

"He's a natural," said Kevin of the former punk, who also scripted the film.

"Most first-time directors have done maybe one feature, or a short film. Richard has immersed himself in films. He's been on the set of maybe 200 movies.

"I remember when he came on the set of Trainspotting the day we were filming on Rannoch Moor. Everyone else was just eating sandwiches, but he was watching how everything was being done. You could tell this was what he wanted."

The film is based on Richard's own early life. It centres on Frankie Mack, played by Kevin, a troubled young man caught up in gang culture. Laura plays his love interest, while Ewen has a cameo as art student Jake.

Richard said: "The landscape Frankie wanders through is pretty much soaked in alcohol. He is a man desperately searching for the meaning of hope.

"He becomes the leader of a gang. Frankie is a very violent person. He seems to get his strength from the gang and they shadow him throughout his life."

Despite the weather, and the film's shoestring budget - at £500,000 it's less than the cost of one episode of North Square, Kevin's Channel Four legal drama - Richard seems more than content with the way it's going.

"Are you happy with that?" asks Ewen as the assistant director calls "Cut!" for lunch.

"Very happy," says Richard, before retiring to his director's 'chair' - a tiny footstool in front of a
monitor.

The tight budget means there's no money for pampering. All the actors change costumes in a little boathouse next to the harbour that also doubles as a cafe. But Ewen still finds a quiet corner to chat on his mobile to his toddler daughter Harmony, while Laura rummages
through a pile of clothes.

Muffled in her Dr Who-style striped scarf, she's tottering around on huge 70s platforms. She said: "My back is killing me. It even hurts between my shoulders."

She - and most of the cast - are too young to remember the decade. That means they never saw Richard in his pop star days, pogoing around the stage of Top of The Pops, singing hits such as Into The Valley.

Laura said: "I keep asking him to do a backflip for me because I'm desperate to see what he used to do on stage. I asked him to do it on the beach today, but he
wouldn't.

"Maybe I'll save it for the wrap party," said Richard. "The knees aren't what they were 20 years ago. I'm an old man now."

EWEN

THE actor, 31, grew up in Edinburgh, where he now lives with singer girlfriend Marcia and their daughter Harmony, three. Hit big time as Spud in Trainspotting in 1996 and went on to star in Hollywood war films Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down.

LAURA

SHE was brought up in Glasgow's West End. First film role was as Joanne in Scottish film Small Faces in 1996. Shared a flat with Anna Friel in London, but she became hooked on drugs. Now clean, she starred in A Knight's Tale and Vanilla Sky.

KEVIN

A NATIVE of Elgin, Moray, Kevin, 28, studied engineering at Edinburgh University, but dropped out to become an actor. Screen debut was as gangleader Malky Johnson in Small Faces. Played Tommy in Trainspotting. Married to Jane, with two kids.

RICHARD

FORMER punk, 42, was born in Dunfermline, Fife, where he founded The Skids in the late 1970s. After they split in 1980, he formed The Armoury, before becoming a TV film critic. Lives in Bedfordshire with wife Francesca and kids Archie and Edie.

Sunday Mail 30 June 2002

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