Scottish actor James Cosmo – who has appeared in no less than 130 Hollywood movies – made a sell-out appearance during the first weekend on the Wigtown Book Festival.
Known for everything from Braveheart and Highlander to Game of Thrones, The Chronicles of Narnia, Troy and Trainspotting he spoke about his long career and the people he has met along the way.
The fact that he was a big man and an accomplished rider proved to be a huge help in his early days.
He said: “I tended to play Bigfoot lumps. I did a lot of tough guy stuff. I could ride horses, so did an awful lot of stuff on horses. In fact, if you look at me from behind, my backside is actually saddle-shaped.
“And then I tried to deny middle age as long as possible. But it arrived anyway, and I found that you actually start to play more interesting and deeper characters. And that’s a wonderful thing about being an actor, you can act until you fall over.”
He is currently appearing in the BBC thriller Nightsleeper and has a three-part series for Amazon, filmed in Glasgow, with Martin Compson called Fear.
Recently his career has taken a new turn as he has been working with a local Distillery to develop his new Storyman label whisky.
A contrasting figure was Gelong Thubten, actor-turned-Buddhist monk, whose Handbook for Hard Times offers a guide to surviving and thriving through life’s difficulties.
The monk, who spent years at the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre at Eskdalemuir, is a world-renowned teacher of meditation.
Over the weekend he led a workshop allowing people to try relaxation techniques.
This year’s festival features more than 250 events and activities and runs until 6 October.
Highlights of the second weekend include a festival-within-a-festival dedicated to food with demonstrations and talks.
They feature a host of well-known guests such as The Hebridean Baker Coinneach MacLeod, Scotland’s National Chef Gary MacLean, MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin and Sanjana Modha Sanjana, creator of amazing modern Indian cookery.
