Iain Robertson

Film critic, Barry Norman described him as
'the best thing to come out of Scotland since whisky'
but that's not a statement that Iain himself would agree with.
IRN-BRU maybe, but not whisky!

Iain Robertson was born in Govan in 1981, and by the time he was 11 he had formed his own theatre company and written and performed his own music, which was staged at Govan's Pearce Institute. He was spotted by top London agent Sylvia Young and offered a place at her stage school when he was 13.

Since then he has graduated from Grange Hill (he played Sean Pearce), to The Bill, Bramwell, Silent Witness and Kavanagh,QC.

He has appeared in films such as Small Faces and as 'Flipper' in The Debt Collector where he starred alongside another with Govan connections, Billy Connolly, who decscribed his performance as 'immense'

He has also appeared with Robert Carlyle and Johnny Lee Miller in the highwaymen adventure Plunkett and MacLeane and made a memorable appearance in the Mick Davis football comedy film The Match.

He was so convincing with 'Hey Sarah, I really fancy you....so how's about it?'
when he starred in a Scottish Health Advert for alchoholism as a teenage drunk, and although he played the role of a 13 year old 'alcoholic in rehab', a role specifically created for him by Ian Pattison, in an episode of Rab C Nesbitt, his only addiction is for the famous non-alcoholic Irn Bru.
BBC2 Scotland have recently screened a short film entitled 'Poached' in which he starred and the future includes a starring role with Kevin McKidd and Joe McFadden in a new Scottish film 'The Bums Rush', which should start filming in the spring of 2000.

Meanwhile, from 18th December 1999 until May 2000, he will be starring in The Mysteries produced by Greenock born Bill Bryden, (who incidently directed The Ship and The Big Picnic at The Shed in Govan), at the National Theatre in LONDON, with Sue Johnston, Joanna Page, Jack Shepherd, William Gaunt, Don Warrington, Joe Duttine and Peter Armitage.

Iain, who comes from a family of five, said "growing up in Govan put fire in my belly, made me push harder and also appreciate the things that have come my way. My stint at the National, will hopefully bridge the gap between the actor I've been and the actor that I want to be. You come here and look at the pictures on the wall of Olivier or Judi Dench and stare in awe - or you just get on with the job - I did both." His parents Donald and Gina and girlfriend Louise will see him perform during his stay in London.
After playing Trinculo the clown to Derek Jacobi's Prospero in The Tempest, he was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award.
Following a period when he went through a stage of wondering if it was what he wanted to do because he had made the decision to go into acting so young, he found that the experience at the National made him realise he was part of a tradition, and it was something he really wanted to do, he worked hard and learned his trade.

July 2005 Iain has landed a key role in Sharon Stone's film follow-up to BASIC INSTINCT.
It's a feather in the cap of the Govan lad, who will again star in BBC Scotland's paranormal drama 'Sea Of Souls', when it returns in the autumn.
Iain admits when he went up to audition for the role in Basic Instinct 2, he hadn't even seen the original, but quickly aquired a copy and liked what he saw.

A former pupil of St Gerard's school in Govan, he insists that his mother doesn't treat him any different from the others in the family and in fact readily admits that his younger brother Dean is more talented than he was at that age.
So, come on Dean, give us something to write about!!

TAKE ME BACK TO GOVAN FOLK PLEASE.

Take me back