An actor's life for me...

It’s good to be king - even for a day

Once in a while it’s nice to see how the other half live, especially when it gives me the chance to be King of the castle - even if it was only for a weekend.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary I took my wife Karen to stay at the beautiful Teaninich Castle just outside of Inverness.

I enjoy a bit of history and this place has it in spades. Even though nobody knows exactly when the castle was built it is believed to date back at least 500 years or more to the 16th century.

What is known is that the place was around in 1660 because there’s written evidence to show it was bought by the Munros in February of that year.

Clearly the original building was extended and changed around a bit over the decades as there are two weathered stones at the rear of the castle dated 1734 and 1770, but it’s difficult to work out exactly which are the ‘new’ bits - if you can call something more than 250 years old ‘new’.

The castle remained in the Munro family until 1923 when it was bought by a man called Charles Harrison, an American who is said to have been the inspiration for the book Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Today it looks more like a country mansion than a fortress, which is probably why it was turned into a hotel in later years.

However, the property may have another claim to fame - one which really appeals to my theatrical side. A couple of years ago new research revealed the celebrated actress Marilyn Monroe was descended from Scottish ancestors and it’s thought they were most likely to have been the Munros of Teannich

Certainly staying there made both Karen and I feel like Hollywood royalty, especially as we had the place to ourselves. As the only guests we had free reign of the building with only Steven, our personal butler from Rosset Butlers, to tend to our every need. A weekend to remember sure enough.

Jings, crivens and help ma boab!

In addition to living it up in a castle for the weekend I got to indulge another childhood fantasy - to see one of my cartoon heroes live on stage.

Like many children growing up in Scotland I received a copy of the annual Oor Wullie book every year at Christmas. So, I was very excited about going along to see the latest stage production of the show called simply Oor Wullie.

For those that don’t know Oor Wullie is a national icon in Scotland. There can’t be anyone who has never heard of him and read of his exploits in the Sunday Post newspaper every weekend or in the traditional Christmas annual many kids got very year.

His trademark spiky hair, black dungarees, tackety boots and upturned bucket he always sat on are as recognisable to most Scots as kilts and bagpipes.

Originally drawn by the cartoonist Dudley D. Watkins Wullie first appeared in the Sunday Post in March 1936 and he’s been a feature of our native culture ever since, getting up to all sorts of escapades and entertaining generations of Scots.

By the way, for a period of time from 2005 to 2006, the weekly cartoon strips were written by broadcaster, writer and Scotland Correspondent’s newest columnist Tom Morton. Tom is writing both a whisky column and a regular feature on ‘Strange Tales from Thin Places’ for Scotland Correspondent - starting in this issue. He also presents our new monthly podcast Musical Correspondent which brings the sound of Scotland to our readers around the world.

However, back to the show. After all these years seeing Oor Wullie on the pages of a newspaper it was with some trepidation that Karen and I went to see the new live musical show at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.

I needn’t have worried. It was fantastic. All the familiar characters were there to create a hilariously funny and sometimes thought provoking show which took time between the songs and jokes to look at cultural anxieties, national identity and explore a sense of belonging.

The whole cast were fantastic and there was a great mix of new up and coming talent alongside a cast of seasoned professionals. A real treat for all the family.

Welcome return of old friends

Speaking of talent I was so pleased to see the return of Outlander to our tv screens in February with the launch of season five.

Watching the episode at home with Karen I was delighted to see my former Outlander colleagues dancing, drinking and celebrating together. It was particularly nice to see my good friend and my fellow actor Paul D Cassidy on screen playing Leith Farrish.

Paul as Charlie Chaplin

Paul and I met almost a decade ago when we were both playing for the same football team. One night at football training he ran alongside me and said he had heard I was an actor. We chatted throughout the training session and have since become great friends.

We’ve also been lucky enough to work together as I also employed Paul in one of my Christmas pantomime shows, where he played the king in Sleeping Beauty.

Paul in Panto

I’m glad to say that since those early days Paul has gone on to work on many other projects including Holmes and Watson where he played Charlie Chaplin alongside Will Farrell and John C. Reilly.

He’s a great talent and a face to watch out for in the future. Remember, you heard it here first!