Martin Compston on Filth, and why its star James McAvoy is ‘the right guy at the right time’

The adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel is one of the most anticipated upcoming Scottish films, and actor Martin Compston has told STV he thinks it had the potential to be something “quite special”.

Martin stars in Piggy, which is currently out in cinemas and sees him as a mild-mannered young man drawn into a world of vengeance when his brother is murdered.

As well as that, he has taken the lead role in true-life gangster biopic The Wee Man – our interview with him about that to follow tomorrow. He also appears alongside James McAvoy, Jamie Bell and Imogen Poots in Filth, which has been adapted from the novel by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh.

Talking about Filth, Martin told us: “It was great – the cast was superb.

“It was genuinely my favourite book before we started filming. I read it years ago, and I love Irvine Welsh.

“At first I didn’t see how they could adapt it, because it’s just such a mad book, but Jon Baird, the director, did a cracking job getting it together and getting the best elements onto the script.”

He added: “I play Gorman, who at the start of the book is the figurehead of the badness which is going on in the main character’s mind.”

Reputed for its surreal touches, Filth sees a bipolar bigoted junkie cop manipulate and hallucinate his way through the festive season in a bid to secure promotion, while also winning back his wife and daughter.

Martin was full of praise for his co-star: “I think with James McAvoy, he’s the right guy at the right time.

“He’s at the top of his game, and it’s such a wild part. I think it could be quite special.”

The actor revealed that he had actually played a game of football against James the day before, and revealed that the X-Men and Wanted star is also happy with the film. However, Martin didn’t tell us the result of the match...