September 5, 2002
Daily Star
Doug's born to be bard
author unknown

SCOTS hunk Dougray Scott looks set to play the national bards of Scotland and Wales in separate movies.

The Fife-born star will pile on the pounds for a film about Welsh poet Dylan Thomas's life which is being made by Mick Jagger. Scott, 37, has meanwhile shown interest in a sexy movie about the life of Robert Burns.

It has been three years in the planning and is to be filmed next year. But the Thomas film will come first, according to the actor.

"Yes, a Scotsman playing a Welshman, " he said.

"But I've always loved his writing."

The Thomas project, Map of Love, follows the poet's marriage to the long-suffering Caitlin.

The GBP 10 million film will begin shooting in January, using the boathouse where Thomas lived at Laugharne and the house where he was born in Swansea.

But the Hibs-daft star also hopes to realise a long held ambition to portray Scottish patriot Burns.

The project, originally called Clarinda and focusing on Burns's love for Agnes Maclehose, has now been revised by Hollywood screenwriter Allan Sharp.

Copyright 2002 Express Newspapers