44 Hollywood actors who were born in Scotland

John Barrowman, Actor: Torchwood. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, and raised in Joliet, Illinois. He returned to the UK, for a 6 month Shakespeare semester with the United States International University of San Diego, but left to star in the musical production of “Anything Goes,” with Elaine Page. He wen…

Gerard Butler, Actor: 300. Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker. His family is of Irish origin. Gerard spent some of his very early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, but was mostly raised, along with his older brother and sister, in his hometown …

Billy Boyd, Actor: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Billy Boyd was born in 1968 in Glasgow, Scotland, to Mary and William Boyd. The talented young boy, inspired by Star Wars to try acting, got his first taste of it in his school’s production of Oliver Twist when he was 10. Boyd’s paren…

Peter Capaldi, Actor: Doctor Who. Peter Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Nancy (Soutar) and Gerald John Capaldi. His parents owned an ice cream business. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather), Scottish, and Irish descent. Capaldi attended drama classes and was accepted into the G…

Robert Carlyle, Actor: The Full Monty. Robert Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, to Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was raised by his father after his mother left him when he was four. At the age of 21, after reading Arthur Miller’s “T…

Morven Christie, Actress: The Bay. Morven Christie was born in Dumbartonshire, Scotland, and grew up in Glasgow and Aviemore. She trained as an actor at Drama Centre London under Reuven Adiv, a colleague of Lee Strasberg. Morven Christie took the lead role of DS Lisa Armstrong in ITV’s hit 2019 seri…

Robbie Coltrane, Actor: Cracker. Robbie Coltrane, one of Britain’s most popular comedians who was head of debating society at school and won prizes for his art, is now a film star who played in two James Bond films and in the “Harry Potter” franchise. Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on Mar…

Sean Connery, Actor: The Untouchables. The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might l…

Billy Connolly, Actor: Brave. Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards, becoming a welder, and joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually being an accompli…

Tom Conti, Actor: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Preferring contemporary over classical theatre (with nary a Shakespeare stage credit in sight), one of West End theatre’s most enduring and popular faces of the past four decades has been that of Tom Conti. He was born Thomas Antonio Conti on November …

James Cosmo, Actor: Braveheart. James Cosmo was born on May 24, 1948 in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland as James Ronald Gordon Copeland. He is an actor and producer, known for Braveheart (1995), Highlander (1986) and Troy (2004). He has been married to Annie Harris since May 24, 2000.

Brian Cox, Actor: X2. Brian Cox is an Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor. He was born on June 1, 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, to Mary Ann Guillerline Cox, maiden surname McCann, a spinner, and Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, a shopkeeper and butcher. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother was of …

Annette Crosbie, Actress: The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella. Crosbie was born in Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland, to Presbyterian parents who disapproved of her becoming an actress. Nevertheless, she joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School while still in her teens. Her big break c…

Alan Cumming, Actor: The Anniversary Party. Alan Cumming was born on January 27, 1965, in Aberfeldy, Scotland, to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming. His family lived nearby in Dunkeld, where his father was a forester for Atholl Estate. The family (including his brother…

Lindsay Duncan, Actress: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Lindsay Duncan was born on November 7, 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland as Lindsay Vere Duncan. She is known for her work on Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), About Time (2013) and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003).…

Michelle Duncan, Actress: Atonement. Michelle Duncan (born 14 April 1978) is a Scottish actress. Known for Driving Lessons (2006), Atonement (2007) and The Broken (2008). She is set to portray Shelley Stern in the upcoming biographical drama film Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). Duncan trained in acting at…

Emun Elliott, Actor: Prometheus. Emun Elliott was born on November 28, 1983 in Edinburgh, Scotland as Emun Mohammedi. He is an actor, known for Prometheus (2012), Black Death (2010) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015).

Craig Ferguson, Writer: I’ll Be There. By August of 1994, Craig Ferguson was established as one of Great Britain’s leading comedians - he had just had huge success at the Edinburgh Festival. In January 1995 he moved to Los Angeles where he now works as an actor-writer-director-producer-creator.

Gregor Fisher, Actor: Love Actually. Gregor Fisher, born Gregor McKenzie, was raised in Neilston by adoptive parents Cis and John Leckie. His first regular television appearance was in 1979 when he appeared alongside Rikki Fulton in the BBC sketch show ‘Scotch & Wry’. As he became more recognized, h…

Tommy Flanagan, Actor: Sons of Anarchy. Tommy Flanagan stars as ‘Martin Connells’ in the third season of HBO’s “Westworld’ starring opposite Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright. Tommy Flanagan was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. In his twenties, Flanagan made his living as a DJ for local dance…

Laura Fraser, Actress: A Knight’s Tale. Laura Fraser was born on 24th July 1975 and brought up in Glasgow. Her father, Alister, used to run a small building company but is now an aspiring scriptwriter; her mother, Rose, used to be a nurse but is now a college lecturer. She has an older brother who w…

Karen Gillan, Actress: Selfie. Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a…

Iain Glen, Actor: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Iain Glen is a Scottish actor, born June 24, 1961, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), followed by the University of Aberdeen. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic…

John Hannah, Actor: Four Weddings and a Funeral. John Hannah is the youngest child of his family, having two older sisters. Before he decided on a career as an actor, John was an apprentice electrician for four years. He gave up his work as an electrician after being accepted to the Royal Scottish A…

Shirley Henderson, Actress: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Shirley Henderson was the eldest of three sisters born into a working-class family in the village of Kincardine in Fife, Scotland. As a teenager she sang locally and performed in school drama clubs. Her first break came when she watched a s…

Sam Heughan, Actor: Outlander. Sam Roland Heughan was born April 30, 1980 in Balmaclellan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. An accomplished stage and screen actor best known for his leading roles in Starz TV Series Outlander (2014-2021), A Princess for Christmas (2011), and A Very British Sex Scanda…

Georgia King, Actress: Wild Child. Georgia May King (born 18 November 1986) is an Scottish actress. King is the daughter of actor Jonathan Hyde and opera singer Isobel Buchanan. Although King grew up dreaming of being a director, she got her break into acting when she was eighteen and still working …

Phyllida Law, Actress: The Time Machine. Phyllida Law was born on May 8, 1932 in Glasgow, Scotland as Phyllida Ann Law. She is an actress and writer, known for The Time Machine (2002), Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and Unleashed (2005). She was previously married to Eric Thompson.

Denis Lawson, Actor: Star Wars. Denis Lawson was born on September 27, 1947 in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland as Denis Stamper Lawson. He is an actor and director, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empi…

Rose Leslie, Actress: Honeymoon. Rose Leslie is a Scottish actress. Her leading on screen debut was at age 21 in the television film New Town (2009). She is famous for playing Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011). Leslie also appeared in the films Voor ik doodga (2012) and The La…

James McAvoy, Actor: Filth. McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James…

David McCallum, Actor: The Great Escape. Since David McCallum’s father, David McCallum Sr., was first violinist for the London Philharmonic and his mother, Dorothy Dorman, was a cellist, it’s not surprising that David was originally headed for a career in music, playing oboe. He studied briefly at t…

Rory McCann, Actor: Game of Thrones. Six foot six inches tall, with brown eyes and dark hair, Rory McCann from Glasgow began his working life at the top - as a painter on the Forth Bridge in Scotland. He came to notice in a television commercial for Scotts’ Porridge Oats, in which he appeared as a s…

Sylvester McCoy, Actor: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Sylvester McCoy was born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith on 20 August 1943, the only child of Molly Sheridan and Percy James Kent-Smith, a couple living in Dunoon, Scotland. His mother was Irish. Percy James Kent-Smith was killed in the Secon…

Kelly Macdonald, Actress: No Country for Old Men. Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was born and raised in Glasgow. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, a sales executive in the garment industry. She has one brother, David. As a hobby, she acted in an amateur the…

Ewan McGregor, Actor: Moulin Rouge!. Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repe…

Kevin McKidd, Actor: Trainspotting. Kevin McKidd was born and raised in Elgin, Scotland, the son of Kathleen, a secretary, and Neil McKidd, a plumber. He was a member of the Moray Youth Theatre, before going on to study Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. While at the university, Kevin becam…

Hans Matheson, Actor: Sherlock Holmes. Hans Matheson was born in a caravan on August 7, 1975 at Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, located in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Shortly after, his family moved to Canterbury, Kent in England but Hans often spent his summer holidays on Stornoway with his grandpare…

David O’Hara, Actor: Braveheart. David Patrick O’Hara was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Martha (née Scott) and Patrick O’Hara, a construction worker and raised in the Pollok section of Glasgow in a large Catholic family of Irish descent. His paternal great-grandfather was Irish. After leaving school…

Bill Paterson, Actor: The Witches. Bill Paterson was born on June 3, 1945 in Glasgow, Scotland. He is an actor and writer, known for The Witches (1990), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) and Miss Potter (2006). He is married to Hildegard Bechtler. They have two children.

David Rintoul, Actor: The Ghost Writer. David Rintoul was born on November 29, 1948 in Aberdeen, Grampian, Scotland as David Wilson. He is an actor, known for The Ghost Writer (2010), The Crown (2016) and My Week with Marilyn (2011).

Dougray Scott, Actor: EverAfter. Born in Scotland, trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he was named most promising drama student. Scott’s early work was in Scottish national theatre and television, first appearing in the series Soldier Soldier as well as on the stage in the T…

David Tennant, Actor: Doctor Who. Often considered one of Scotland’s greatest actors, David Tennant was born David John McDonald in West Lothian, Scotland, to Essdale Helen (McLeod) and Sandy McDonald, who was a Presbyterian minister. He is of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent. When he was about 3 o…