ROBERT CARLYLE

THE SCOTTISH STAR ON A TOP-CLASS CAREER

Being out there, and being “on”, is something that I really enjoy,’ says Robert Carlyle. A good thing, then, that in a 30-year-plus career, Carlyle has never been ‘off’, from his 1991 breakthrough in Ken Loach’s Riff-Raff, through the phenomenon of Trainspotting and beyond. Carlyle will soon return as embattled British PM Robert Sutherland in Sky Max thriller series COBRA: Rebellion.

How have you found the experience of playing the Prime Minister during such a fraught period for British politics?

Well, I mean, some of the stuff that goes on in the real world, you couldn’t write it. Honestly, it’s been fantastic, but who would have thought that I’d be a Conservative Prime Minister?! I’m lucky if they let me back into Scotland at this rate.

Are you drawn to political stories when reading scripts?

If you can find a project that does have some kind of value like that, then that’s going to be something I’m always drawn to. The Full Monty is seen as politics-lite, but it’s actually really important to talk about those issues. It’s the opposite side of the coin to go from playing someone like Gaz to playing Robert Sutherland.

Riff-Raff is also a sympathetic story about the working class. What are your memories of landing that role?

The audition for that was insane. It’s the way Ken [Loach] does it. He looked for the character of Stevie in Belfast, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and London. When I turned up, it was a central hotel in Glasgow. There were about 1,000 actors there. I thought, ‘There’s no chance.’ But Ken’s seen something in myself.

Did Begbie cast a shadow on your career after Trainspotting?

Obviously, I was delighted with the success of Trainspotting. But for about four or five years after that, the scripts coming through were like Begbie 1, Begbie 2, Begbie 3… I thought, ‘I can’t get stuck here.’ I was lucky that the next thing I did was The Full Monty. I was seen as an actor, rather than just someone who plays a villain.

‘WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT I’D BE A CONSERVATIVE PRIME MINISTER?!’

You’ll be reprising Begbie for TV series The Blade Artist…

This is the first time I’ve really been there, at the concept of the thing. At this stage, as Irvine [Welsh, writer] said himself, no one knows the character like me. The plan is that it’s going to be a six-part story. We have the first script but we’re not settled on it just yet. The next draft is due to come to me in a couple of weeks.

What was your Bond experience like?

It kind of felt like you were working for MI6! The way people appeared on set – that was extraordinary. One day, I was in a scene with Pierce Brosnan, and I noticed that this person was quite close as we were in the middle of a take. I was distracted by this. I was going to turn around and go, ‘Excuse me.’ And it’s fucking [footballer] David Seaman, standing there!

Was it Danny Boyle’s connection to 28 Weeks Later that led to your involvement in that film?

It was Danny that called me, in actual fact. He said, ‘Come and do this. I’m not going to be directing it.’ I was like, ‘What?’ But Danny directed most of – actually, all of – the second unit. And, in particular, the opening. Danny shot all of that. It’s a terrifying film.

You went uncredited for your cameo as John Lennon in Boyle’s Yesterday – why?

When Danny called me up he said, ‘I’m not going to tell you what the role is. I just want you to read the entire script.’ Most actors are like, ‘Where am I?’ [laughs] As I flipped the page, and there was John, I was in tears. That notion of seeing John again, just for a brief moment, I thought was amazing. To keep that back, and to get that surprise, I thought it was definitely worth it. JORDAN FARLEY

COBRA: REBELLION IS ON SKY MAX AND NOW FROM 12 OCTOBER.