Profile

Paul Brannigan, star of Ken Loach's The Angels' Share - profile

The actor is also set to appear with Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin

23 May 2012

Born 1987, Glasgow, Scotland Background After working as a football coach in the Barrowfield community in Glasgow and helping to tackle knife crime as part of a Strathclyde Police initiative, Paul Brannigan was spotted by screenwriter Paul Laverty…

Central Station: Rosemary Head

Dundee-based sculptor of clay

16 Apr 2012

Now based at Tin Roof Arts Collective in Dundee, Rosemary Head moved to Scotland from Derbyshire to attend Dundee University, where she studied art, philosophy and contemporary practices. Inspired by the interdisciplinary focus of this course, and…

Profile: Music, fashion and wedding photographer Kat Gollock

The Edinburgh-based photographer on her approach to photography

29 Mar 2012

I can remember the first photo I took that someone commented on. It was of my dad standing in front of some usual holiday vista in France. Both Mum and Dad commented on how good a photo it was, but it was the first time they really meant it.

Profile: photographer Takeshi Suga, aka Sugar Crisp

Japanese-born, Glasgow-based music photographer

29 Mar 2012

Takeshi Suga (aka Sugar Crisp) is a Japanese-born photographer now living in Glasgow. He takes photographs for the Fence Collective, NME and himself and mixes digital photography with the use of analogue cameras such as the £45 Diana Mini First…

Interview: Isy Suttie on tea, Technotronic and Ice, Ice, Baby

Stand up comedian, actress, writer and musician

6 Jan 2012

First record you ever bought. ‘This Beat is Technotronic’ by Technotronic. Last extravagant purchase you made My Martin three-quarter-size guitar. First film you saw that really moved you Manhattan. Last lie you told I told the postman…

Ralph Fiennes, star and director of Coriolanus - profile

Man behind the modernised Shakespeare adap has Bardic pedigree

5 Jan 2012

Name Ralph Fiennes Born Ipswich, Suffolk, 22 December, 1962 Background Initially a star onstage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Fiennes gained international film recognition for his Oscar-nominated performance as Nazi Commander Amon Göth in…

5 things you might not know about Nick Helm

The former 'dinner lady' and 2011 Best Joke of the Fringe winner doesn't get on with Alice Cooper

5 Jan 2012

1 Among Nick Helm’s pre-showbiz jobs have been as a ‘dinner lady’ at a secondary school for boys, counting traffic and working in the café of a garden centre. 2 In 2001, he formed a theatre company called Bad Ash Productions whose oeuvre includes I…

Central Station: Garry Maclennan

The Glasgow-based, Brora-born photographer favours odd exhibition spaces

5 Jan 2012

Originally from Brora in the far north east of Scotland, photographer Garry Maclennan currently lives and works in Glasgow. In the last six years he has founded a collaborative photography studio in a hidden cul-de-sac in Glasgow’s West End, been…

Central Station: Charlie Anderson

Provocative rising artist with an eye on contemporary culture

21 Oct 2011

Since graduating in 2009, Charlie Anderson has pissed off art collectors, curators, graffiti writers, three world-renowned artists, been threatened by a leading London gallerist, and has been punched in the face by an Edinburgh artist. He has also won…

Interview - Rob Brydon

The comic actor answers our questions ahead of the release of his autobiography, Small Man in a Book

17 Oct 2011

First record you ever bought Apart from Rupert Bear, Propaganda by Sparks. Last extravagant purchase you made A cashmere scarf. First film you saw that really moved you Barney’s Version. Last lie you told I never lie. First movie you…

Five fun facts about Ed Byrne

Some little known facts about the Irish comic's altercations with popes, Perriers and Piers Morgan

17 Oct 2011

Born in the Dublin suburb of Swords, Byrne first got involved in stand-up comedy as a horticulture student at Strathclyde University. As part of the student union, Byrne hosted pub quizzes and karaoke nights which provided him with a taste for showing…

5 Things you might not know about Alan Carr

19 Sep 2011

1 Carr’s distinctive toothy look was due to a childhood accident when he fell and banged his chin on the caravan-towing bar on a family holiday. 2 Before he got proper famous, Carr had a litany of awful-sounding temp jobs: putting shampoo in boxes…

Profile - Sebastian Koch

German star of coming-of-age Brit comedy Albatross

13 Sep 2011

Name Sebastian Koch Born Karlsruhe, Germany, May 31 1962 Background Koch has worked solidly in European films and TV for over 25 years, but it was his terrific performance in The Lives of Others (2006) that made him recognisable to cinema…

Profile: Andre Ovredal

Writer and director of Troll Hunter

24 Aug 2011

Born 1973, Norway Background After studying at Santa Barbara’s Brooks Institute, where he made his first film, Future Murder (2001), Ovredal established himself as a successful director of commercials in Norway. What’s he up to now? He’s written and…

Interview - Joe Bone from Bane

The noir shows that have stalked the Edinburgh Fringe for three years

4 Aug 2011

Joe Bone is a busy man. A few years back, he created the hard-boiled character Bruce Bane in the wake of a spate of old detective movies he'd been watching. Fast forward to 2011, and Bane has taken on a life of his own, spawning three stage shows, a…

Profile: Gina Glover

The photographer of military landscapes discusses her background and future

21 Jul 2011

What made you want to be a photographer? I had trained as a painter in the 60s but I found this a very isolating activity. I realised I wished to communicate and collaborate with people. In the 1980s I jointly founded Photo Co Op, which became the…

Profile: Paul Mowat

This is Central Station

21 Jul 2011

Paul Mowat is predominantly a figurative painter, his concern being with the human condition and how we live. He initially studied graphic design and printmaking, and after a brief spell in London as what he describes as ‘a very bad graphic designer’ he…

Profile: Chris Weitz, director of A Better Life

Director known for American Pie, About a Boy and The Golden Compass

18 Jul 2011

Name Chris Weitz Born 30 November 1969, New York City Background Weitz began his career co-directing the hit teen comedy American Pie (1999) with his brother Paul. After another successful collaboration, 2002’s About A Boy, Weitz’s first solo…

Danny Bhoy - Five things you might not know

Scottish-born comedian returns home from Australia for Glasgow show

28 Jun 2011

1: The b(h)oy from Moffat is a fully-fledged Aussie now, though he had a nervous wait to find out if the immigration panel would give his application for permanent residency the thumbs-up after they requested tickets to see his show in Canberra. Despite…

Cryptic Nights: Inhabitants

A one-off fusion of live contemporary dance performance

14 Jun 2011

Fresh from performing in Geneva as part of the International Mapping Festival, one of Scotland’s most innovative companies presents a one-off fusion of live contemporary dance performance, sound and film as part of Cryptic Nights. Inhabitants is…

Profile: Philip Seymour Hoffman, director and star of Jack Goes Boating

The much-respected actor screens his directorial debut at the EIFF

27 May 2011

Born Fairport, New York, 23 July 1967. Background Known as the ‘character actor’s character actor’, Hoffman has been a jobbing actor since the early 1990s. After playing bit parts in television shows, shorts and features, Hoffman got his breakthrough…

Central Station: Angharad McLaren

A profile of the Glasgow-based textile designer

27 May 2011

Angharad McLaren designs and makes contemporary woven textiles in her studio at the Briggait in Glasgow. A lover of sailing, rock climbing and windsurfing she sources unusual sports-related materials such as climbing ropes, sail materials and neoprene…

Barbara Rafferty discusses Lark, Clark and the Puppet Handy

The show also stars Sean Scanlan and Frank Gallagher

27 May 2011

What made you want to be an actor? My mother was a cinema usherette so I went to the movies and was hooked. It was another world I wanted to be a part of. First and foremost I am an actor but when I was asked to direct a show, My Name is Margaret…

Profile: Jim Mickle, director of vampire horror Stake Land

Director turnes hometown into a post-apocalyptic wasteland

23 May 2011

Name Jim Mickle Born Pottstown, Pennsylvania, 1977 Background After graduating from New York University’s filmmaking programme, Mickle worked in the camera department for features Transamerica, Shortbus and Pride and Glory. The experience gave him…

Profile: Gregg Araki - director of Kaboom

A wild, sex-filled ride heavily influenced by the B-movie genre

23 May 2011

Name Gregg Araki Born 17 December 1959, Los Angeles Background Araki came to prominence in the 1990s as one of the leading figures in what was labelled New Queer Cinema (a collection of films by directors including Derek Jarman and Todd Haynes…