Kelly Macdonald

Kelly Macdonald was born in Glasgow in 1976 and is probably best known for her role in Trainspotting. Working as a barmaid in Glasgow in 1995, Kelly picked up a leaflet advertising an open casting audition for Trainspotting, director Danny Boyle's breakthrough film. Winning the part of Diane, Macdonald started to seriously consider acting as a career. Since then, she has played mostly supporting roles albeit in some big Hollywood films such as Nanny McPhee and the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men".  She also won an Emmy for her role in the 2005 TV Movie "The Girl in the Cafe". Somewhere else you may have noticed her would be in the final Harry Potter film; she played the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw.

Perhaps her biggest role though and one that has propelled her celebrity status in America is that of Margaret Schroeder in HBO's award winning TV series "Boardwalk Empire". Set in 1920s America, it's essentially a period drama about how sometimes politicians and gangsters weren't so easily separated. The fact that it's directed by Martin Scorsese was a big pull for Kelly as she tells in an interview with The Guardian:

It was, like, "By the way, Marty Scorsese's directing it." I just said, "Right, I'm on board if you want me." I didn't really know anything about the character or her development but it was Scorsese. That was enough for me."

She goes on to talk about the famous director and says "He's so welcoming and enthusiastic and full of knowledge, but he's also interested. Honestly, he's one of those people who's such dead good company that you forget it's him." Working with Martin Scorsese can only be a dream come true for young Scottish actors and Macdonald in particular seems completely at ease with the legend!

Although she's spending eight months out of the year filming the series in Brooklyn, she moved out of her London home and returned to Glasgow. She thinks the city has changed, saying it's become "more vibrant, bohemian". She also adds "My home could be anywhere, but I love Glasgow". Hopefully when she returns from shooting this series of Boardwalk, she'll do some Scottish filming! Kelly Macdonald strongly disputes that she's a celebrity and it's this kind of down to earth, homegrown talent that Glasgow, and Scotland as a whole, needs more of. Although she may have left for bigger and better things in New York, she's coming home. And that is very exciting indeed.



Here's the trailer for the first season of Boardwalk Empire, which is available on DVD.