Dundonian acting legend Brian Cox has lent his voice to a new independent Scottish horror film, directed and written by a North East man.
The Braveheart actor agreed to take part in Dark Highlands, a low-budget independent movie made by Mark Stirton.
Telling the story of a Japanese artist stalked across the Cairngorms by a murderous enemy, Dark Highlands will shortly be released in what is being seen as a boost to the region’s commercially successful film scene.
To add another dimension to the film, Mark reached out to see if Mr Cox would be available to contribute to the film.
Mark said: “I had the idea of having an introduction to the film from someone in the Scottish industry. I mentioned it to the producers and they said it was a good idea but it was only worth doing it with a voice worth recording, like Sean Connery or Brian Cox.
“I thought: why not have a punt here? I got in touch with his agent and got an email back the next day.
“That’s normally the point where they say they’re not getting involved, but it said he had some time between projects in a really tiny window of time.”
Mr Cox agreed to what Mark called a “Herculean” drop in pay given the low budget of the film.
Mark, who is based in Aberdeen, commended Mr Cox for his contribution to the film.
He said: “I did convince him and he took one of the biggest salary reductions of all time to help me out. Basically while some famous people just talk about helping out us low budget struggling directors, Brian Cox actually did it.”
Describing what it was like to work with one of Scotland’s biggest film actors, Mark said: “He’s very interested in the work. He wants to see the text, have a play with it and have a couple of take. If you push him for some anecdotes you get them too.
“He takes the craft of acting very seriously. The first time he started doing it, I thought it was so good.
“He just gives us a bit of atmosphere and class.”
The release date for Dark Highlands has yet to be confirmed, but it is hoped it will be distributed on major online streaming sites such as Netflix.
