050803Liverpool

May 8, 2003
Liverpool Echo
My two days make a difference...
author unknown

He has played pool with Tom Cruise, romped with Thandie Newton and starred opposite Kate Winslet and Drew Barrymore.

But when Hollywood heart-throb Dougray Scott walked onto the Brookside set recently, he wore the excited expression of a 10-year-old boy.

"It was quite exciting being on the Brookside set," says Dougray, now 37. "I used to watch it when I was younger."

But Scottish actor Dougray was on the West Derby set to do much more than take a trip down memory lane.

He was there, alongside Liverpool actor Ian Hart, for the two-day production of a short feature film called The Lie Is Dead.

Organisers hope it will help win funding to launch the Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme (SHARP) in Liverpool.

And with Chris Difford from Squeeze and singer Marti Pellow, himself a former heroin addict, offering to write the music and lyrics to accompany it, it looks like it may well do the trick.

The recovery programme, which has run in London for 10 years, offers day treatment for drug and alcohol addicts, and provides them with on-going support for one year after they complete the programme.

Everton director Bill Kenwright has offered £25,000 towards startup costs and it is estimated it could cost £400,000 to set up and run for three years.

The star of Mission Impossible II and Enigma agreed to do the short film because, he says, it is "easy to get self-obsessed" as a movie star.

"My sister works with drug addicts in prison in Scotland, and I've spoken to her about the issues of addiction and aftercare - it's what happens afterwards that's important.

"Drugs ruin families and the community too.

"It's easy to get self-obsessed when you are an actor and in movies, so it's good to give something back."