Scottish Actors - Ones to Watch
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Paul Brannigan was born on 14 September 1986 in Glasgow, Scotland. He is an actor, known for The Angels' Share (2012), Under the Skin (2013) and Sunshine on Leith (2013).- Sharon Rooney was born on 22 October 1988 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She is an actress, known for My Mad Fat Diary (2013), Barbie (2023) and Dumbo (2019).
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Born in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother was a midwife and his father was a Royal Air Force Police mechanic and later a chief lecturer and engineer in prosthetics and orthotics. He became a junior Scottish bodybuilding champion, winning several titles in his late teens. Inspired by his childhood idols Arnold Schwarzenegger & Sylvester Stallone he took part-time acting classes before attending drama school. After formal training he worked in the theatre, touring with Harold Pinter's classic, 'The Birthday Party', in the role of the menacing McCann followed by Jerry in Edward Albee's 'A Zoo Story' to rave reviews.
Larkin's career has been marked by playing on the duality of vulnerable but tough types, bringing a depth and emotional complexity to otherwise two-dimensional characters.
As a struggling actor, he made his own work, the first of which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, then more notably Scene. (2006) playing a hapless actor trapped in a movie, for which he won his first BAFTA Scotland Award. A variety of diverse roles followed in American and British independent films, and bit-parts, including depression-era /heist The Red Machine (2009) then the self-penned Running in Traffic (2009) as the grief-stricken, drug dealing, Cullen, alongside Kenneth Cranham for which he won his second BAFTA. In 2009 he was presented him with the Trailblazer, Rising Star Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival by Sean Connery.
He has previously demonstrated his leading man potential in numerous low-budget features, including action-heist Battleground (2012) before gaining over 40 lbs of muscle for the towering Russian Soldier, Dolokhov in Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013).
In 2014 he appeared in Season One of Starz Outlander (2014) as Geordie opposite Graham McTavish & Caitríona Balfe and Let Us Prey (2014) as the brutal but broken cop, Jack Warnock opposite Liam Cunningham.
in 2016, he was cast in his first Hollywood movie with Gerard Butler in London Has Fallen (2016) as SAS Lieutenant Will Davies, drawing the attention of casting director Mike Leeder and action star Donnie Yen who chose him as the lead antagonist, Ernest Hunter opposite Yen and Andy Lau in the Hong Kong gangster epic Chasing the Dragon (2017). Inspired by Hong Kong's landscape, culture and energy, he created Dead End (2017) the self-penned hitman trilogy, winning over 50 international film festival awards.
He has made his mark in AAA video games and full body motion capture, including Blood & Truth (2019) and Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) Horizon Forbidden West (2022) and Final Fantasy XVI (2023)
In 2021 he appeared as Wiglaf in the season finale of Vikings (2013) and the Black Mirror styled Everything was fine (2021) set entirely in a single hotel room. Larkin shot and directed the entire film while in quarantine during the Covid19 pandemic.- John Gaffney was born in Hamilton in Scotland and moved to the island of Jersey in 1983. It was here where he got a taste for acting after being approached to take on a stage role by a local theatre director whilst singing in a night club. When he returned to Scotland in 1992, Gaffney was offered a place on an acting course at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formally the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) but family commitments forced him to decline the opportunity and instead decided to return to his trade as a plasterer.
In 2008, Gaffney returned to acting with small parts in short films including R.E.M, Hush (2010), and A Spanking in Paradise (2010). In 2011 he landed his first major role, starring as Dougie Fallon in the independently made television series The Crews (2011). Starring alongside David Hayman and Stephen McCole, Gaffney's character Fallon was a high level member of a drug-dealing gang in Glasgow who has risen through the ranks of the criminal underworld. The following year, Gaffney landed the role of Superintendent Charles Sloan in the feature Sci Fi film Night Is Day: The Movie (2012) which premiered at the 2012 edition of the Glasgow Film Festival.
Starring opposite Duncan Airlie James, 2013 saw Gaffney star as Liverpudlian gangster called Butler in the short film The Priest with Two Guns (2013). The character, known as 'Butler the Bookie' is owed money by the brother of Father O'Reilly (played by James) who is being held hostage until the debt is repaid. In the same year, Gaffney also made appearances in the short films V for Visa (2013) and "Doug And Steves Big Holy Adventure" by John McPhail as well as Blink (2013) by Colin Ross Smith.
In 2014, Gaffney was approached by Andy S. McEwan to play the role of Tam in the short comedy film Broken Record (2014). The film saw Gaffney star as part of a comedy duo with Steven Patrick where they played a couple of house clearance workers in the 1990s who think they have stumbled upon hidden treasure in the form of old gramophone records. The film was warmly received by critics with many commenting on Gaffney's flawless comedic performance.
Later that year, Gaffney was recommended by Chris Quick to director Johnny Herbin who was casting for his short film Electric Faces (2015). Quick, a producer on the film, suggested Gaffney was an ideal candidate to play the part of Lucas after working with him on the set of Broken Record (2014). Herbin agreed with the decision and Gaffney was cast as Lucas. In 2015, Gaffney was cast in Where Do We Go from Here? (2015), the first feature film of Scottish director John McPhail and later played the role of Coleman in Crime (2015) by Carter Ferguson. - Actor
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Leo Horsfield was born on 30 September 1978 in Dumfries, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for London's Finest (2014), The Dead Outside (2008) and Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013).- Martin Bell grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. He made his screen debut at the age of 10, appearing as William in The Last Great Wilderness (2002), directed by David Mackenzie. Since then, he has made various appearances in British film, including the role of Julian in Peter Mullan's critically acclaimed Neds (2010).
Martin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow in 2014. - Actress
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Vivien Taylor was born in Glasgow, Scotland and has enjoyed performing from a young age, starting dance classes at the age of three. She reached professional levels in her Royal Academy and Imperial Society ballet, tap and modern exams. During this period she appeared in many stage shows, both dancing and acting. It was in her teenage years that she developed a real interest in acting and whilst studying for her MA (Honours) Degree in Film and Television and Theatre at the University of Glasgow she attended an open call for a TV commercial. Although Vivien didn't book the role, the casting director told her that she wanted to represent her as her agent and help her lay the foundations of an acting career. It was at this time Vivien started booking parts in commercials and small roles in television programmes, as well as her first leading roles in several short films. She also attended acting classes from Mark Westbrook as well as various screen acting courses run by Equity. From then on her acting career gained momentum, when Vivien was cast as female lead, Dr Elizabeth Lawrence in Indiana Jones fan film, 'Treasure of The Templars.' Although she had studied film acting, it was during this six week shoot that Vivien had the opportunity to hone her film acting skills, being pushed to levels that she didn't think were achievable. Soon after this she was cast as third female lead, Tamara in _Cycle(2006)_ which was shown, much to Vivien's delight at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, she has expanded her spectrum of roles in theatre, television, radio, short and feature films and prides herself on the variety of character types she has played. She has also does a lot of voice work for adverts and animations. Vivien's most recent highlights were as drug addict Sheena in Wayne Thallon's dark comedy feature film A Spanking in Paradise (2010) which along with The Dunwich Horror (2010) (in which Vivien played Lavinia Whateley) gained 'Best of the Fest' at the 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival. After showing how physically versatile Vivien was whilst appearing as a host of characters in CBBC's Hedz (2007), she was cast as the grotesque zombie matron in Outpost: Black Sun (2012), and appeared as the same character in pre-zombie form the following year in the prequel, Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013) which was shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. Vivien has recently been attached to a number of feature film projects with Thunderball Films which are scheduled to be going into production in the very near future.- Rhys Teare-Williams is known for One Year Later (2013), White Light Co. (2013) and Gary: Tank Commander (2009).
- Mark Prendergast is known for Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz (2013), Running in Traffic (2009) and Our Flag Means Death (2022).