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July 6, 2000 Trading punches with Tom Cruise, flying through flames on a 950cc motorbike, and supporting Hibs . . . is nothing too gruelling for Dougray Scott, asks JOHN MILLAR? Dougray Scott didn't know it, but he was in the middle of a crisis - well a storm in a teacup, really - on the morning that I visited him on the set of Enigma. Down at Elstree Studios - they make EastEnders round the corner - the Fife-born actor was on the studio floor, filming some of the last scenes in the movie adaptation of Robert Harris's best selling Second World War thriller. Even slimmer than usual - he's lost more than a stone to portray a character on the edge of a nervous breakdown - and with his hair cropped to a 1940s style, Dougray has teamed up with Kate Winslett to head the cast of director Michael Apted's take on the drama behind Britain cracking the Nazis' Enigma code. Ironically, the Scot, who plays a code-cracking boffin, was blissfully unaware of the tension and intrigue going on in the film's production office, where his assistant, Emma, was having a nightmare start to the day, all because she had broken a china mug. Well not just any mug, but Dougray's favourite - his teabreak pride and joy, which had Hibs, his favourite football club, emblazoned on the side. With a little help from myself, an avowed Hearts supporter, Emma hurriedly organised a replacement, phoning the Easter Road home of Hibs and impressing on them the urgency of shipping a shiny, new mug to the studios. Job done, the assistant took Dougray some tea, served up in a Styrofoam cup, on which she had scribbled "Hibs". He looked quizzically at the container, but was too polite to ask what was going on, before Emma diplomatically slipped away; no doubt to double-check when the new mug might arrive. Then, while Michael Apted's crew prepared the set-up for the next shot, a relaxed and smiling Dougray talked of his passion for Hibs and how he rates manager Alex McLeish as "an incredible visionary" and a "breath of fresh air" and longs to fulfil an ambition to step on to the Easter Road turf. It was more than any Jambo could stand, so once I reminded him that Hearts were headed for Europe courtesy of a last league-match victory over the Easter Road side, it was back to things cinematographic. Specifically, our conversation centred on the impressive manner in which a boy from Glenrothes has found himself starring in the biggest blockbuster of the summer, Mission: Impossible 2. The movie, in which Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and Dougray are protagonists, is already heading towards the $200m mark in the States. By the time Enigma reaches the screen, probably early next year, Dougray Scott will be a very hot property indeed. Mention of that fact causes the actor to shift uncomfortably in his chair. "I don't really think of it like that," he insists. "Of course, I am aware of the hugeness of it all, and how much my profile has risen in America, but I just try to concentrate on what I'm doing. But, because Mission has been so successful and I have had such wonderful reviews, it means more scripts come in and I get more film offers. I don't know what I will do next; it might be a big film or a small film. I'll do whatever interests me." That has been his philosophy from the beginning. He marched away from a lucrative role in hit ITV drama series Soldier, Soldier because he wanted fresh challenges; and found them in an impressive variety of film roles - as a foul-mouthed, bent cop in Twin Town, an old-fashioned prince charming in Ever After, a TV cameraman in Deep Impact (sadly most of his scenes finished on the cutting-room floor) and a Bohemian charmer in This Year's Love. It was the contrasting performances in Twin Town and Ever After that convinced Tom Cruise and director John Woo that they had their M:I2 baddie. Almost two years ago, at the Edinburgh Festival, I met Dougray just after he'd landed the role and he was tingling with exciting and anticipation. Now, after nine months filming in Australia, and being ascloseasthis with Tom Cruise, it's obvious that the experience lived up to his expectations. But, although Dougray - whose late father played for Queen's Park and who harboured youthful ambitions of being a footballer - got himself match fit for the movie, he had underestimated the physical side of things. "It was about 10 times tougher than I thought," he says. "I knew it was going to be very physical and I trained incredibly hard for it. But I never thought filming was going to take nine months. It takes a lot of out you to maintain your concentration and to be away from home for that length of time, but I really loved it. Working with Tom Cruise and John Woo, who are both extraordinary, was great. So I had a fantastic time." Inevitably, he researched his M:I2 villain's role by meeting men who had served in the special services, such as Navy Seals and the SAS - just as, for Enigma, Dougray immersed himself in information about that aspect of the Second World War. "But where does a character like this come from? There are not many renegade terrorists to meet, so a lot of it comes out of your imagination and a lot of it is in the script. The part was written for me, but he was not like me, I just think they saw aspects that they wanted me to go into. He was romantic and vulnerable but also vicious and lethal. He is quite a contained, subtle character - not at all flamboyant - so that was refreshing to be able to play." Initially, there was discussion about Dougray disguising his Fife accent by adopting an Eastern European persona, or even taking on American tones. But all that was thrown out the window while the actor was in Turkey, filming the big-budget TV series, Arabian Nights. Screenwriter Robert Towne - whose biggest success was Chinatown - phoned for a blether and, eventually, Dougray asked in what direction the writer thought they would be going with the accent. "He said that he had been listening to me speak and that he'd love to use my Scottish accent. I was pleased, because I think a Scots villain works. It's nice to play him like that, because villains tend to be South African, or Eastern European, or whatever." The combination of a Mission: Impossible movie, Tom Cruise, and John Woo means that lots of breathtaking stunts are going to be on the screen. A grinning Dougray points out that he did a lot of them himself. "I rode the motorbike - a Triumph 950 - a lot," he says. "I trained for that. So it's me going through that wall of flames - you can see that it's me. Yes, I also came off the motorbike once and bruised myself quite badly. There were all these stories that I almost broke my neck, but that wasn't true and I never delayed filming. When I fell from the bike I just got badly bruised and hurt my ribs, that was all. Tom came off his motorbike as well. But it is an action film, so you expect to take a knock or two." For Tom Cruise, these knocks included being on the receiving end of Dougray Scott's fists during the filming of their big fight scene at the film's climax. "We would catch each other," he says, as though smacking the biggest film star in the world was an everyday occurrence. "I hit Tom quite a few times and he hit me as well. On the first day of filming, he caught me right on the jaw. It was a cracker!' I wondered if it ever crossed Dougray's mind that walloping - even by accident - Tom Cruise might have jeopardised his continued participation in the film? "No, by that time it was too late to fire me, so I didn't care," he says with a smile. "But Tom was fine about it. He is one of the loveliest guys in the world. Tom is a mate, a friend, and one of the most down-to-earth actors I have ever worked with. "He would come round to where I was staying in Sydney and we would have dinner and chat and go out a few times. He really is a lovely man." Like Dougray, Cruise is also a big sports fan, though ice hockey is his game. So, did the Scot try to persuade him to take an interest in Hibs? "His son plays soccer, as they call it, so he's into that. But I don't think he really understands the culture of football." - July 6 |
