A FORMER heroin addict who once thought the best he could hope for was a life in prison has landed a job in the new Trainspotting movie.
Filmmaker Garry Fraser, 37, will be shadowing Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle on the hotly-anticipated sequel to the classic Scottish film.
The self-proclaimed “schemie” from the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh earned a Bafta following his work on hard-hitting documentary Everybody’s Child.
The opportunity to shadow the director of the original film came about thanks to a friendship with author Irvine Welsh who recommended him for a role.
Boyle had been impressed by his Bafta and the film workshops he runs in the Edinburgh.
Garry sees the Slumdog Millionaire director as a hero and was delighted to land a job as second unit director. He said: “Irvine Welsh has been a really good friend to me.
“We are both from Muirhouse and he’s knocked down doors for me and been really supportive.
“He messaged me and said Danny Boyle wants to speak to you, so I said, ‘Tell him to give me a call’.
“I was standing in the kitchen frying an egg when he phoned. He said he was really interested and wanted to find out more about my life.
“He was a really nice guy and a hero of mine. I invited him across to one of the workshops and it gave the group a real buzz to have an Oscar-winner there. And Danny had never seen anything like what we were doing.”
Garry will be working behind the camera with a crew under his supervision and sees the role as an opportunity to learn his craft.
He links up with Welsh again for a feature called The Muirhouse based on two of the author’s short stories.
Garry runs a workshop for actors of all ages who meet for rehearsals at the Serenity Cafe on the Royal Mile.
At least five of the group have also auditioned for acting roles on Trainspotting 2, though they are yet to learn whether they will star alongside Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle in the remake.
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