Alan Cumming: Guardian interview & Burns project

One minute, he's doing Shakespeare. The next, he's starring in Garfield. Does Alan Cumming ever regret saying yes? The star talks to Hadley Freeman of The Guardian about his new shows, his new perfume range – and why he accepted an OBE.

Read more: Guardian

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Alan has been involved in the recently completed three-year BBC Scotland project to record all 718 of Robert Burns's poems. The project's readers also included Robert Carlyle, Siobhan Redmond, and Brian Cox.

More information at Scotsman.com

Update on Gerard Butler's 'Burns' biopic

Scottish actors Brian Cox and John Hannah might be cast in the film. Oh, and there's this too:

Gerard Butler will reportedly bare all in an upcoming film.

The Law Abiding Citizen star has been lined up to portray Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns in a racy new movie directed by Vadim Jean.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Jean said: "Gerard and I are both totally committed to the film. There's plenty of sex and nude scenes in it.

"[Burns] was a notorious rake of his time. We are not whitewashing Burns by any means. He was a complicated character and to do justice to his story is not a simple thing."

Scottish actors Brian Cox and John Hannah have also been tapped to appear in the film, but there has been no decision made as to who will play the lead female role of Burns's love Jean Armour. [Digital Spy]

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Gerard Butler to play Robert Burn

No, you're not dreaming. It's finally happening:

A biopic of Robert Burns, starring the Scots actor Gerard Butler, will begin shooting in Scotland this year.

The £5m production, which has been beset with financial difficulties, will begin filming following the launch of a government-backed campaign to raise funding.

Glasgow-born Butler, 39, has starred in blockbusters including The Phantom of the Opera and 300. The script has been written by Greenock-born Alan Sharp, who penned Rob Roy, the 1995 blockbuster starring Liam Neeson.

The film, which will be directed by Vadim Jean, a French film-maker, and produced by James Cosmo, a Scots actor, will be shot on location in Edinburgh and Burns’s native Ayrshire.

Most of the budget, which includes investment from Scottish Screen, is already in place. The remainder will be raised by signing up 250 “subscribers” to the project.

Each will commit a sum to the project in the same way that investors backed the publication in 1786 of the famous Kilmarnock Edition of Burns’s poetry. The success of the collection convinced Burns to stay in Scotland rather than emigrate to Jamaica, as he had planned.

Alex Salmond, the first minister, will host a dinner at Edinburgh Castle in May to help raise funds.

The film, titled Burns, will be the first big-screen biopic of the poet since the 1930s. It will focus on his love affairs with his wife Jean Armour and Agnes McLehose, also known as Clarinda, an Edinburgh society hostess.

“Robert Burns is rightly regarded as Scotland’s favourite son,” said Salmond.

“It would be great for Scotland if Burns could be immortalised in modern film, particularly as we mark the 250th anniversary of his birth this year and celebrate his genius through Scotland’s Year of Homecoming.”

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