Stevenson role opens a new chapter for Bremner

Published on Monday 18 October 2004 13:57

TRAINSPOTTING star Ewen Bremner is set to play author Robert Louis Stevenson in a new TV docu-drama.

The BBC programme is due to start filming in Edinburgh and Samoa, where the Treasure Island writer spent his last years.

"It’s fascinating when you’re a kid to think of pirates and buried treasure and being marooned on an island, but I’m a bit more interested in him [Stevenson] as a man now," said Bremner.

The actor, who shot to fame playing Ewan McGregor’s drug-addled sidekick Spud in Trainspotting, recently moved back to Edinburgh from London with his partner Marcia Rose and daughter Harmony, who has just started school.

However, The Adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson will also mean a return to the Pacific for Bremner, who travelled to Hawaii to appear in Pearl Harbour with Ben Affleck, and Welcome to the Jungle, which also featured wrestling star The Rock.

He was born in the Capital, where his parents were both art teachers. They enrolled him in Edinburgh Theatre Workshop’s playground to keep him occupied while they were shopping.

Bremner, 33, whose latest film, Alien vs. Predator, opens in cinemas this week, said playing Stevenson in the Edinburgh scenes will allow him to be near his young daughter.

He added: "When I’m home I can spend as much time as I can with my little girl. I’m scheduled around her. My lifestyle is fairly comfortable and I’m happy."