1101 New Woman

November 2001
New Woman (Australian edition)
Great Scott!
author unavailable

He might've been stalked last time he was in Australia but Dougray Scott just loves our sunny shores. Playing a WWII code-breaker in his latest film Enigma, the swoony Scottish actor chatted to us about maths, movies and Mick Jagger...

First off, how do you say your name? It's Dug-ray, isn't it?
Actually, it's Doo-gray.

Oh, right. Sorry about that. So you play this mathematical wizard in Enigma - must have been nice to play a genius!
Yeah, I never get the chance to do that normally!

How do you like my Enigma-tic look?

Were you any good at maths at school?
No, I wasn't great at maths, but I did research for the role for about five months, talking to professors and spending a lot of time at Bletchley Park (a UK naval base). I eventually found this young professor at Oxford who made me understand it all very quickly.

Sounds like you really got into the role...
Well, I do my preparation - my research - before I get on set. It's a way to just lose yourself. It's something that intrigues me - you get an opportunity to live in someone else's body for a bit.

You need to involve yourself so much in someone else's life that you actually start to think like that person.

Mick Jagger produced Enigma, didn't he? That must have been very odd...
No, he's really kind of down-to-earth. He was great - very supportive and there a lot. He even let me listen to a couple of his new tracks, which was fantastic. At first it was: "Oh my God, there's Mick Jagger", but after awhile, you know, it's just Mick. He's such a lovely man.

What two words describes the real Dougray Scott?
Happy and gentle - but people always think I'm depressed because of the characters I play!

What kind of character would you like to play?
A footballer! I wasn't great at it but I wanted to be. Maybe I could get some pointers...I did a lot of boxing for Mission: Impossible 2, which was fun, and I'd really love to play a war journalist. I've read quite a lot about it and how fucked up in the head it makes you - the drink and popping pills just to get through the day. I'm intrigued by it; I don't understand it. When they wake up they must think: "Oh no, I've gotta go back to that fucking battle - again!"

Before acting, did you want to do anything else?
I would've loved to do something physical. I like doing things with my hands, you know. I used to play guitar years ago, in a terrible band, really terrible.

Can you still do the groceries in your trackie daks without hassles or are you too famous?
Yeah, I get recognised...but maybe that's just 'cause I go to the supermarket a lot! I don't feel like it's a problem for me. I don't get bothered. I'm lucky I guess.

Ever feel like telling journos to leave you alone? Oh, it's just part and parcel of the film industry. You've got to do it if you want people to come and see your movie. From that point of view it doesn't bother me so much. I don't make a big deal about the press - which pisses some journos off. I do as much press as necessary.	And they call this work...
I don't think it's a good thing to have yourself splattered everywhere in the papers and magazines. It's important to be selective about what you do. For me, the work is enough. I don't wanna go out to all the celeb things. I just love what I do - this job, to be in this industry.

We heard you had a stalker when you were filming M:I-2 here...
Yeah, one or two! But that's OK. I dealt with it OK.

Was it scary?
This guy just followed me around. He rang me once from the hotel lobby and said: "I've come all the way from Melbourne to see you." And I'm like: "Really? Who are ya?" I got out of the place. It was really creepy man.

Surely a guy who looks like you gets that all the time!
Well, I've never had something like that before!

Hope that doesn't put you off coming back...
Noooo, I love Australia! I'm dying to come back there, actually, I've got mates there. And Sydney - I just adore the place. I hoping I can come back this year.

Where do you hand out?
I love Bondi! I'd live there if I could. All the great places to eat - you've got the best restaurants there. Great Thai food in Australia...and I love Ravesi's. But not that wanky place where everyone sits outside posing!

Sounds like you should emigrate!
Oh man, I miss it so much. I've gotta come out there soon. I'ts one of my favorite cities in the world. I love the food, the people. I'm incredibly happy when I come to Australia.

So are we, Dougray, so are we....

Catch Dougray in Enigma with Kate Winslet at cinemas from Nov 8.