A Scottish movie star has come to the rescue of a Dundee police drama after one of its lead actors pulled out just days before filming was due to begin.
Batman Begins and Kick Ass star Tamer Hassan was to appear in the trailer for the Job, which started shooting in Dundee on Friday, but had to cancel due to other work commitments.
Brian McCardie, who recently starred in the acclaimed film adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Filth, agreed to step in.
A quick call from the Job’s Dundee-born co-writer and actor Adam McNamara to Brian was enough to persuade him to take part, Adam explained.
He said: “When we started discussing the trailer, we had people in mind for the characters.
“We didn’t think we’d have enough time to do casting as such in any great detail, so we had people on board from the very beginning.
“We thought, great, that’s that sorted. Then Tamer had to pull out because of other work commitments. He had tried so hard to make it work, but unfortunately he couldn’t.
“He said he was really sorry and there was no way he could get out of it, but we said it was fine.
“Because we hadn’t really thought about it, I sat down and the first person who came to mind was Brian McCardie.”
With just over a week to go before the shoot, Adam picked up the phone to the 49-year-old Glaswegian actor, who said he would be happy to step in.
Adam said: “We’d spoken before and I’ve hung out with him in London, so I gave him a phone. He said he’s been following it all on Twitter and said he’d do it.
“To get him on board is an absolute coup, because he’s just done Filth.
“There’s a lot of humour in the character he’s playing and I know he’ll just excel in it as he’s just one of the funniest guys.”
The Job trailer was funded by a Kickstarter project and focuses on the lives of ordinary police trying to juggle the demands of their work and personal lives.
Shooting took place at a number of Dundee locations on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including in Fintry and the Hilltown.