Scottish beefcake looking to land some meaty roles

Chris Capaldi as alter-ego Glen, the face of Scotch Beef.

To some who played rugby with him at Boroughmuir or Heriot's or Stewart's Melville FP, he's Chris, an impressive, award-winning athlete who reached the Scottish national Sevens squad and then turned professional.

To others - like some of the biggest names in the world of film - Edinburgh-raised Chris Capaldi could well be the next name to watch in the world of Scottish acting.

Today, however, he's just being himself, fresh from the gym - this is not the kind of guy to be found assaulting his impressive washboard physique with post-Christmas leftover mince pies - and, like the rest of us, wondering what 2011 might bring.

For the national face of Scotch Beef, it's a hope that he's about to finally make the move into a role which is a little, OK, let's just say it, "meatier".

Right at the top of his New Year wishlist is the dream that the part he's just filmed in Guy Ritchie's much-anticipated sequel to his 2009 Sherlock Holmes film, where he rubbed shoulders with Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law, makes it to the final cut.

He was understandably thrilled to join the cast in October to film a selection of gritty scenes around London, where he's now based. There, the ex-rugby pro-turned-model-turned-actor found himself on nodding terms with the mega-star lead characters.

"It was incredibly exciting," he grins. "Just to be involved in something like that, it was amazing.

"To be honest, I was happy just to go to this big movie set and stand around, watching. To be involved in it has been a great experience."

He's still buzzing with the thrill of coming face-to-face with the likes of Downey Jnr and a cast that includes Stephen Fry, Rachel McAdams and Jared Harris as Sherlock Holmes' nemesis, Moriarty.

"I'd be sitting opposite one of these big names and they'd be nodding, saying 'How are you doing?' and I'd just think 'Oh jeez'. It was pretty weird."

Filming continues until February, but right now he's facing a nailbiting wait to see if his playboy character, a rakish big spender who crosses paths with Edinburgh-born Conan Doyle's famous detective and his sidekick Watson, makes it to the final cut.

The "how, where and why" of the storyline and just what his character gets up to is a closely-guarded secret that Chris, for one, isn't going to spill. But it doesn't take a genius detective to figure out the sequel - pencilled in for release next Christmas - is likely to be another box office smash for Madonna's ex Ritchie and, hopefully, Chris.

"I can't say too much about the film other than I play a character who's a bit of a playboy, he's got a bit of money. He's a bit of a rake. Ha, not a million miles away from life as it stands at the moment," he says with a laugh that suggests that, actually, yes it is a world away.

"Thing is, you never really know until it comes out whether you're in or not," he concedes.

Chris might not sound at all bitter at the thought that his efforts might land on the cutting room floor, but even the acting tips he received from Drew Barrymore's mum last year during a long stay in New York can't disguise the fact he'd be devastated not to finally achieve his dream of making the leap from modelling to the big screen.

For getting to this stage has taken him on a rather diverse and unusual journey.

"I've always wanted to be a performer ever since I was a kid and watched Footloose. I wanted to dance like Kevin Bacon so much that I enrolled in ballet classes," he explains. "You've got to remember, there weren't hip hop classes or anything like that then and the only way to learn to dance was to join tap or ballet."

He had talent and ended up dancing for Scottish Ballet when he was still just eight. But it wasn't long before his athletic skills took precedence over pirouettes. He joined his school, Stewart's Melville's, rugby side, eventually going on to captain the team. He continued after school as a talented flanker with Stewart's Melville FP, Heriot's - where he was in the double championship winning side in 2000 - and latterly Boroughmuir where he was named Scottish Player of the Year.

The highlight had to be achieving national honours in the Scottish Sevens in 2001.

But while rugby took over his life, there was always a niggling desire to make a break into a different discipline - acting.

"I thought I couldn't do it," admits Chris, 32.

"I wasn't the most outgoing type of person at that stage, I'm really a bit of an introvert unless I'm on the rugby pitch.

"I was a bit older before I started to think 'no, life is too short, so what if you make a fool of yourself, just go and do it'."

He retired from rugby with Plymouth Albion and headed for a break in Miami where he got an unexpected call from Howie Nicholsby of Edinburgh-based 21st Century Kilts, who spotted his potential as a model at the showcase New York Dressed to Kilt event.

Chris stole the show and was soon snapped up to become the high-profile face of Quality Meat Scotland, aka Glen and Scotch Beef. It's a role, along with stints as a personal trainer, that's put food on the table for the past four years through various heather-strewn shoots of him in farmer mode, hunky beefcake mode, kilted chap next door mode.

But now he's keen for a new challenge.

"I spent a year in New York where the attitude is very positive," says Chris, who's currently single.

"A lot of my time was spent 'prepping' for business, getting some self-belief. A friend of mine got me some sessions with Drew Barrymore's mother, which weren't so much hard core acting lessons, more about preparing and making contacts, all things you need to know.

"It's taken ten years for me to get to this stage," he accepts. "There's work to be had if you're willing to chase it, and I am."

With that in mind, he's preparing for the next instalment of his move into acting - later this year he'll head to Los Angeles to try to get his name and face known.

"I'm in a good position. A lot of guys who are my age have been trying to break through for years, they've given up or lost enthusiasm. I'm here with a bit of experience and lots of enthusiasm, I'm in a depleted pool of actors, I've got to be confident."

The big break, of course, has got to be making it to the final cut of what could be one of the movies of the year, Sherlock Holmes, "part two".

"All I can do is go along, do my thing and then it's down to good luck and editing," he nods.

"And keeping my fingers crossed."

FAMOUS FOOTSTEPS

CHRIS Capaldi may be best known at the moment for his advertising role as Glen, the face of Scottish Beef, but he's not the only one to move into acting from the worlds of sport, modelling or advertising.

Take James Bond himself, Sir Sean Connery, who'd pose for hours in front of budding artists as a life model at the Edinburgh College of Art.

And fellow Bond Roger Moore, who started out his career modelling handknit jumpers for Patons and Baldwin's knitting patterns, left.

Patsy Kensit had her first taste of television fame as the child star of a Birds Eye peas commercial, but Leslie Ash was on screen before her as the childish face of Fairy Liquid in the Sixties.

Even Hollywood giants had to start somewhere. Brad Pitt's one of the biggest names in cinema, but back in the early days he was just a bloke in an advert for Pringles.

And for years Elijah Wood was just one fifth of a clumsy all-American family who get so sick of their dad burning the hamburgers that they head for Pizza Hut.

Keanu Reeves' big break came advertising Corn Flakes and Meg Ryan proved that the camera loved her quirky smile in an advert for American toothpaste brand, Aim.

Others got their break after first making their name in sport. The infamous OJ Simpson was one of America's biggest football stars before he became an actor, and, of course Arnold Schwarzenegger was a champion bodybuilder.

Closer to home, Vinnie Jones made the leap from the football pitch to the silver screen. And who could forget Ally McCoist in A Shot at Glory in which he appeared alongside Robert Duvall?