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Film credit

Robert Carlyle

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Episodes featuring their films
1
Movies in this archive
1

Mentioned in discussions

Trainspotting poster
Trainspotting

Half-Assed Internet Research

Trainspotting The Rewatchables

Research covers locations, Begby’s private backstory, preparation films, US edits, and early accent replacement.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:09Read transcript
  • The story is set in Edinburgh but was largely filmed in Glasgow.
  • Kelly Macdonald is reported to have been a 19-year-old Scottish waitress who answered a casting flyer.
  • The cast was shown Goodfellas, A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, and The Hustler as preparation.
  • Robert Carlyle privately played Begby as a closeted gay man whose rage turns against friends rather than the person he meets at the club.
  • The Lost Boys was another preparation film used to evoke young people living dangerously.
  • The US cut shortened explicit needle footage and showed less of Ewan McGregor during the sex scene.
  • For the US release, some opening dialogue was replaced to make the Scottish accents easier to understand.
Trainspotting poster
Trainspotting

Apex Mountain

Trainspotting The Rewatchables

The performers whose names are transcribed as Johnny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremont, plus Born Slippy, receive the strongest apex cases; the movie also inspires a proposed Sick Boy decline-point category.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:14Read transcript
  • The director’s later Oscars and blockbusters keep this from being his clear apex.
  • Ewan McGregor is considered but has too many later peaks and valleys for a simple verdict.
  • The performers whose names are transcribed as Johnny Lee Miller and Bremont receive positive apex verdicts.
  • Kelly Macdonald is rejected because she went on to substantial later work.
  • Sick Boy’s theory that greatness is acquired and then permanently lost is identified as an early conceptual version of Apex Mountain.
  • A proposed Sick Boy inflection-point category would mark the work where a career starts descending or briefly rebounds.
  • Robert Carlyle is debated because he is excellent here and in the sequel.
  • Born Slippy is chosen as an apex for needle drops because it begins at Renton’s decision to steal the money and makes the escape feel both ecstatic and uncertain.
Trainspotting poster
Trainspotting

Casting What-Ifs

Trainspotting The Rewatchables

A performer whose name is transcribed as You and Bremer had played Renton onstage; Christopher Eccleston was considered for Begby, and Robert Carlyle had earlier pursued Shallow Grave.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:39Read transcript
  • A performer whose name is transcribed as You and Bremer originated Renton in a stage production.
  • Christopher Eccleston was the initial Begby image in the director’s mind.
  • Robert Carlyle had auditioned for the Ewan McGregor role in Shallow Grave but refused to soften the character’s working-class accent.
  • After also playing Renton in a reading, Carlyle was invited back and chose Begby after considering Sick Boy.
  • The director’s belief that small psychos are best resolved Carlyle’s concern that he was physically unlike the novel’s Begby.
Displaying all 3 discussions

Films in the archive

Trainspotting

1996

Rewatchables episodes featuring their films

Trainspotting poster

Trainspotting

1996 film

Chris Ryan · Andy Greenwald

Aired September 28, 2021

Displaying 1 episode