Andrew Barrett was seven years old when he told his parents – leading Perth local politicians Liz and Peter – that he wanted to be an actor.
The Liberal Democrat councillors had taken their son and his older brother Chris to the pantomime.
Andrew, now 31, recalls: “I remember walking around the back of Perth Theatre after the show, and we saw all the actors, half in their costume, smoking cigarettes and having a laugh.
“So I asked mum and dad about it. And that was when I realised that acting was a job – that it was something you could get paid to do.
“It seemed like a no-brainer to me.
“And it still feels like that now.
“I can’t believe I get paid for this.”
Andrew completes 500th performance as Mark Renton in Trainspotting Live
Having just completed his 500th performance as Mark Renton in Trainspotting Live, it is safe to say that seven-year-old Andrew would be very impressed.
The Off-Broadway production, based on Irvine Welsh’s novel about Leith’s 1990s drug culture, has just wrapped up a month of sell-out shows in the EICC at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Andrew, who studied acting at Dundee College for two years before completing his education at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, landed the leading role in 2018 when he was living in New York City.
He was working in Shakespeare when he saw an advert for the position.
He says: “I thought: ‘I am, to my knowledge, the only skinny Scottish actor kicking about in New York at this time. I’ll have that’.”
It was fortuitous that auditions for Trainspotting were being held on the same day Andrew and the cast of Othello were driving from Connecticut to Washington DC.
He asked the bus to make a “wee detour”, before hopping out and auditioning for the angsty, misanthropic role of Renton.
He got the job.
The show resonated with American audiences – the states has an opioids crisis – and was extended twice.
It has since been toured across the UK annually by its five-strong cast.
As well as the Edinburgh Fringe, they have sold out venues in London, Bristol and Glasgow.
Its nudity, language, violence and drug references are so strong, it is recommended for over-16s only and is said to have shocked Welsh himself.
The breakthrough role has seen Andrew appear on multiple TV news shows to discuss the play.
Trainspotting Live ‘like family’
“The cast are all like family now,” Andrew says. “It is a pretty well-oiled machine.”
But despite knowing the material “better than the back of my hand”, he says the show continues to challenge him as an actor.
He says: “Playing Renton was very different when I was 25 to how it is now at nearly 32.
“I think there is a different tragedy to a 25-year-old throwing away all his potential and his intellect and drive.
“It sits differently to someone who is 32 who has seen a little bit more of life.
“It doesn’t make it more or less tragic, it just feels a bit different.
“I think the other challenge is that it is a very physically demanding role.”
The immersive show, which starts off with a 20-minute rave, also requires Andrew to emulate the physical affects of drug abuse.
He says: “As the audience comes in you are kind of bouncing around the stage as if you have had a bunch of ecstasy pills, and that is a lot easier to emulate when you are 25 than when you are 32.
“I had to look after myself a bit more at this Fringe than other years.”
Liz and Peter Barrett ‘really supportive’ of son’s risky career choice
Andrew, who lives in Glasgow, says his mum and dad have always backed him.
Laughing, he says they have seen the show so many times – including in New York – that they “could probably understudy it at this point”.
He adds: “I feel really lucky to have had parents that were really supportive of me choosing quite a risky career.
“They’ve just always been behind it.”
But Andrew acknowledges that acting is a challenging industry to work in.
He says: “It’s great work when you can get it, but it can be tough being an actor because you can go through huge periods of time without getting a lot of work.”
Andrew comes ‘full circle’ to teach acting at Dundee College
That is one of the reasons he took up a post as a lecturer at Dundee College last year.
Working in the institution’s performing arts theatre, The Space, he teaches physical theatre to HNC students.
He also directed the BA students in a show last May and will lead the HND students in a production this coming semester.
“It’s a great course and it’s fab to come full circle back to where I first started my training,” he says.
The role, which sees him travel regularly between Glasgow and Dundee, means he has also found more time to pop home to Perth.
Although he attended Kinnoull Primary School and Perth High School, he jokes that most of his education was at Perth Youth Theatre, which operates out of Perth Theatre and Concert Hall.
He says: “It definitely was a good theatre for young actors.
“I think it is the best theatre in Scotland.
“It really helped me to grow up as a young person and to have a space where I could be imaginative and sensitive, which was kind of tough to do at school at the time.”
Andrew, whose first job was at Provender Brown Delicatessen on Perth’s George Street, adds: “I really enjoyed growing up in Perth.
“It is such a beautiful city.
“I really love Glasgow but I will always come back to Perth to visit and I love being able to pass through and see my folks.”
Inspired by parents’ work in the community
When I ask what it was like to grow up with politicians for parents, the pride in Andrew’s voice is clear.
“It is really inspiring to see what they do and have done for the community,” he says.
“They just don’t really stop.
“They’re always driving around picking up food from the supermarkets and bringing it around food banks.
“And they don’t do that for recognition or to get clout or to get more votes.
“They just do it because there’s people in Perth who are struggling to make ends meet.
“They set the bar pretty high for what you can and should do for your community.”
The couple both represent Perth City Centre ward.
What is next for Perth actor Andrew?
With a seventh run of Trainspotting Live now under his belt, what is next for Andrew?
Although he admits he is getting “a bit long in the tooth” for the role now, he says he’s not ready to give it up yet.
There are murmurings of a London run next year.
He says: “There has been some years where I’ve gone, ‘Alright, it’s time to move on’.
“But the industry is really tough right now, so if you get a gig like this, where you really feel challenged and valid as an artist, it’s a tough one to say goodbye to.
“So I’m going to keep doing it.
“Until I am old enough to do the sequel.”
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