Hollywood star Alan Cumming has urged Scots to seize the "wonderful opportunity" of independence and vote Yes in next week's referendum.

The X-Men actor returned to his native Scotland to join Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and other pro-independence campaigners making a final push for votes ahead of September 18.

Cumming, who also stars in hit US show The Good Wife, was greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic supporters as he campaigned with Ms Sturgeon in Glasgow.

The actor, originally form Aberfeldy, Perthshire, was one of a number of famous faces who spoke out at the launch of Yes Scotland more than two years ago.

With 10 days left until the referendum, he urged people north of the border to vote Yes and "grab this wonderful opportunity with both hands".

Cumming was in Scotland the day after a YouGov poll put support for independence ahead for the first time in the campaign.

He described the referendum debate as a "huge political issue about the destiny of a whole country".

He said: "It's an historic moment for us all, we now have a chance in this country to have our own destiny in our own hands."

The actor continued: "I feel so good. I've always felt the longer the campaign goes on, the more likely it's going to be a Yes victory.

"But I was worried that it wouldn't be able to go on long enough for the swing to take place.

"But I think this last weekend, this poll that has comes out shows it really is going that way and that's why I'm here to help in the last push and to encourage people who might be lifelong Labour voters like myself, who are being told by their party to vote No, that actually don't listen to what Westminster is saying to you, follow your heart."

Cumming said: "I've always voted Labour in the elections I have voted in in this country, that's because I believe in a good health service, a great education, and that should all be free. Those things are under huge threat, as we all know.

"I believe if we don't vote Yes we're going to see a huge change in the amount of money Scotland's going to be given by the Westminster government.

"I really don't believe they're going to say 'vote No and we'll reward you' because all they have done is threaten and bully us up till now."

He continued: "I just feel very passionate about this campaign, I spoke at the launch of the Yes campaign two years ago and it means such lot to me that all the people are here, there's such momentum, there's such passion.

"I love the way everyone is discussing it and the discussion is coming round to the Yes campaign's way, that everyone is coming round to the idea that to uphold the values all Scottish people care about we need to be able to govern ourselves."

He hit back at those who criticise him for speaking out in the debate when he does not have a vote in the referendum.

"It kind of gets my goat when people say that," Cumming said.

"Nobody says why can't David Cameron or Ed Miliband have a say, they're not able to vote either."

The actor, who is currently working on Broadway, said there was global interest in Scotland's future.

He stated: "There's a lot of interest, especially in the last week or so people all around the world are perking up and noticing.

"I think a lot of people are fascinated, when they get to the nub of what the argument is, that Scotland just wants to have a government it has actually voted for, people can't really understand why that hasn't happened before.

"We think we live in a democracy but if we don't get the government we vote for, we don't. That's what this is all about."

He added: "I feel so passionate about this. My brother said yesterday, he lives in Southampton, in England, so he doesn't have a vote either, he said 'it doesn't matter that I don't live in Scotland, Scotland lives inside of me'.

"So the Scotland that lives inside of me will be erupting if there is a Yes victory, which I really hope there will be."

The actor said the referendum campaign "has been the most exciting thing to happen to Scotland in my lifetime".

He added: "It has reinvigorated Scotland and its democracy, with people who wouldn't normally get involved in politics rolling up their sleeves and having their say on how Scotland should be run.

"I'm proud to have been a part of the Yes campaign right from the beginning and to see it become the biggest grassroots movement in Scotland's history - it really is people power in action."

But growing momentum behind the Yes campaign sent the pound plummeting to a 10-month low of just below 1.62 versus the US dollar, with Scottish-based financial institutions also taking a hit, after Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Life all saw their shares fall.

Cumming, however, insisted the referendum was about more than "financial concerns".

He told the BBC: "There's lots of unknowns, but this is not just about financial concerns, this is about values and what the Scottish people value is under threat if we don't vote Yes.

"The NHS isn't going to be the way it is any more, our education is going to be expensive.

"The whole way Scotland values things is under threat if we don't get to govern ourselves. We're at the mercy of the cuts that come from Westminster."

Scottish Labour deputy leader Anas Sarwar seized on those remarks, saying: "Alan Cumming has today confirmed what we have known for some time - that there are 'lots of unknowns' and 'financial concerns' associated with Alex Salmond's plan for separation."

The Labour MP said: "Alex Salmond cannot tell Scots what currency they would use, how their pensions will be funded or how public services will cope with the £6 billion shortfall in tax revenue - and now his own celebrity endorser has flown in from Hollywood and admitted it.

"Next Thursday the people of Scotland can vote for the best of both worlds - a strong Scottish Parliament, with more powers guaranteed, backed up by the strength and security of the UK."