James Cosmo relishing 'deeper' acting roles

Scottish actor James Cosmo has said he is relishing the kind of roles he is being offered later in his career.

Currently appearing in the BBC thriller, Nightsleeper, he appeared in a sell-out event at the Wigtown Book Festival at the weekend.

He told the audience his acting career had developed from playing "Bigfoot lumps" to more interesting roles.

The festival started on Friday and runs until Sunday with more than 250 events in total.

Cosmo – who has appeared in more than 100 Hollywood movies – was one of the highlights of the opening weekend at Wigtown.

He spoke about his lengthy career which has seen him star in films ranging from Braveheart and Highlander to Game of Thrones, The Chronicles of Narnia, Troy and Trainspotting.

He said the fact that he was a big man and accomplished rider had been a huge help at the outset of his career.

"I did a lot of tough guy stuff," he explained.

"I could ride horses, so did an awful lot of stuff on horses.

"In fact, if you look at me from behind, my backside is actually saddle-shaped."

However, he said that the roles he was being offered had started to change as he got older.

He said he had tried to deny middle age for "as long as possible".

"But it arrived anyway, and I found that you actually start to play more interesting and deeper characters," he said.

"And that's a wonderful thing about being an actor, you can act until you fall over."

Cosmo's appearance helped to get the annual book festival off to a flying start.

Others to appear over the weekend included actor-turned Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten whose Handbook for Hard Times offers a guide to surviving and thriving through life's difficulties.