Robert Carlyle says bringing back Begbie is risky – but the gamble will pay off

ROBERT CARLYLE has revealed his concerns over the forthcoming Trainspotting sequel.

Work on Porno is due to start next summer with the Scots star reprising his role as psycho Begbie, alongside Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and original director Danny Boyle.

But speaking to iN10 from Vancouver, the 54-year-old admitted that going back to a much-loved favourite has its risks.

“Of course there is, I’d be foolish to say there wasn’t,” he said.

“But if anybody can pull this off, Danny can.

“In my opinion he’s the best director we have in the UK.

“It’s nice to play the part again and nice to be with my friends, but Danny’s the main reason I’m there.

“You’re right that people say you should never go back, but my money’s on Danny to pull this off.”

Trainspotting was released in 1996

The follow-up to the Edinburgh-set movie that made big names of its then little-known cast will move the story along to the present day.

“I’ve been asking people if they can remember a sequel 20 years later and no one can.

“That’ll be really interesting.

“And the audience who loved Trainspotting are 20 years older too, so there’s a nice synchronicity there.

“When I read the script and I know Ewan felt the same it was quite moving because we know these guys almost as well as ourselves.

“You can’t get away from Begbie or Renton.

“People have been quoting lines to me for years and you think about what happened to these guys.

“Hopefully, the audience might be asking that too.”

We’ve caught up with Robert on the back of the success and acclaim of another of his movies.

The Legend Of Barney Thomson, which was shot in Glasgow and has just been released on DVD, triumphed at the Scottish BAFTAs a couple of weeks ago.

The movie, which Robert directed as well as starred in, was named Best Film and Emma Thompson won Best Actress.

Although the darkly comic tale of a barber drawn into macabre serial killings was expected to do well, Robert says he wasn’t counting his chickens.

“I’m too long in the tooth to expect things these days,” he smiles.

“I’ve been there when they’ve said the winner is you and when they’ve said it isn’t you. You can’t depend on these things.

But while he was chuffed at the Best Film nod, he’s obviously equally happy at Thompson’s recognition for her memorable role as his terrifying mother, Cemolina.

“I’d have been stunned if she didn’t get it. It was such a fantastic performance.

“You don’t get many women playing a part like that a crazy serial killer type.

“She was the first person on the sheet for me to play it and thankfully she accepted within a day.

“We had to age her up, of course, and you’re looking at someone who doesn’t have a great deal of vanity.

“Very few A-list actresses would put themselves in that position.”

The film was shot around Glasgow locations that were familiar to Robert from his younger days and he admits that was the best part of the whole experience.

“I knew places like Shawfield, Barrowlands and Red Road very well.

“They’re kind of under threat or gone now with Red Road and it was a chance for me to document bits of Glasgow I know.”

Vancouver is where Robert, wife Anastasia, and their kids Ava, 12, Harvey, 11 and Pearce, nine, live for much of the year as that’s where his hit TV series Once Upon A Time is filmed.

It’s family-friendly fare and after many of his tougher parts he says he’s happy about that.

“It’s a chance to redress things a bit as so much of my stuff has been on the other side of the coin.

“One of the things that pleases me most is that we all sit around as a family and watch it together.

“I’ve done that with my mother-in-law as well, who was 80 and my youngest was only six at the time.

“There aren’t many shows you can enjoy like that, so I’m delighted to have the opportunity to do it.”

While he’s happy with the Canadian lifestyle he lives for nine months at a time, Scotland remains his home.

“Vancouver is beautiful and you could certainly be in worse places, but I miss home,” he adds.

“I miss the patter, I miss the jokes. I’m like anybody else, I miss my patch.”