‘Headcase’ Robert reverts to type

For psychopaths, tyrannical dictators and power-crazed Bond villains, Robert Carlyle is the first name on any casting agent’s list. Thanks to his withering stare and tough Glasgow background, the quietly spoken actor, 47, is fighting a constant battle against typecasting.

Summer, Carlyle’s new film, which opens on Friday, is a drama about society’s outsiders that is firmly in the Ken Loach tradition. Begbie, the fearsome antihero of Trainspotting, catapulted the former apprentice decorator to stardom, but Carlyle says he negotiates a “handbrake U-turn” after each time he plays a villain, to show a softer side. Stripping for The Full Monty suggested an untapped comic potential, but Carlyle is drawn to the dark side.

He will reunite with the Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh for The Meat Trade. Carlyle’s character is “a f***ing headcase. Begbie is nothing compared to this guy”.

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