DOUGRAY Scott tapped into his own dark side to play a baddie opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2 .

The film opens on Tuesday in America - and already Stateside critics are astounded at just how evil he is as bio-terrorist Sean Ambrose.

When the movie opens in Britain in July, fans won't recognise him as the same actor who starred in The Crow Road and Soldier, Soldier. But Dougray, 34, had no problem finding the badness buried inside.

He said: "Everyone has a dark side. Everyone has an imaginary villain within them that they choose not to use. I guess you try to find it within you and go with that.

"A little of it is imagination, but all of us have moments in life when we want to do really bad things. You just have to take it one step further when you're in a character like this."

The role will make Dougray a bona fide Hollywood star alongside his best friend and best man Ewan McGregor. In the film, Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt and his mission is to get his hands on a deadly virus that Dougray's terrorist character is threatening to unleash.

Both characters are in love with a superspy played by Thandie Newton.

Dougray says: "This character lives life very dangerously. He's ruthless and vicious."

But he adds: "He doesn't think he's bad. He goes around thinking that he's entirely justified. He thinks he's a reasonable man."

Dougray spent almost a year filming in Sydney and admitted he missed Scotland, although his wife Sarah and their twins were Down Under with him.

A Special Thanks to my pal Marla for spotting this for us!