Interview with Kevin McKidd – The long road to Hollywood
'Greyâs Anatomyâ star Kevin McKidd is one of the most loved TV actors in America.
Kevin talks to Thomas Kelly, QMUâs Head of Development and Alumni Relations, about his journey from QMC to Hollywood, taking the rough with the smooth, and how a little bit of luck can change your whole career.
âWhen I was a kid, I was painfully shy.â We catch-up via phone as Kevin drives through Los Angeles. Heâs having some down time during the filming of âGreyâs Anatomyâ season 17. As he takes me on a journey through the highs and lows of his career, itâs evident heâs come a long way from being the shy boy from the Scottish Highlands.
In Primary 5, he took part in a play about a king who couldnât stop sneezing: âI played the sneezing king, the comedy role. My shyness disappeared when I walked on stage. Thatâs when I got hooked!â At the tender age of 16, Kevin went to the University of Edinburgh to study engineering.
His parents wanted him to study âsomething sensibleâ, but Kevin confesses:
"âŠin my heart I knew I wanted to be an actor. So I applied for drama school. Iâd fallen in love with Edinburgh so I only auditioned for Queen Margaret."
Kevin only made it as far as the car park after his audition before being offered an on the spot place on the course! âI went to the phone box to call my mum and dad. I was nervous as hell. ââMum, Dad, youâre never going to believe this. Iâm leaving university, Iâm not going to be an engineer, Iâve just got into drama schoolâ.â
âI thought theyâd go off at the deep end, but instead they said: âWe always knew that was what was going to happen, Kev. Congratulations, we support you'.â
When we talk about Kevinâs time at QMC, incredibly, he reels off every single production he was part of, character he played and class he took part in â from fencing to method acting. âI always remember Lynn Bains teaching Uta Hagan techniques.â Uta Hagan was a German-American actress who went on to be very well known for her acting techniques based around acting normally in imaginary circumstances.
He explained: âWe had to bring every item from our bedrooms into class. We were asked to setup our bedroom on stage, sit on our bed, in front of everyone else, and just act normal. Itâs much harder than it sounds and f***ing intimidating. Every class was like going to the dentist, but boy, did we learn! To this day, I still use these skills.â
Fast forward to Kevinâs final year. âI got lucky, as I had my first acting job already lined up before graduating (âThe Silver Darlingsâ with John McGrath). Wildcat Theatre Company needed a young, male actor who sounded like he was from the Highlands â Iâm from Elgin. It was a done deal.â
During the Scottish tour with The Silver Darlings, Kevin âgot lucky againâ. ICM, the biggest agency in London, saw the production and signed him.
"Iâd never even heard of ICM â I thought it was a computer company. I was very much a country bumpkin, never having left Scotland before, but I went down to the ICM Offices in the middle of Oxford Street, ⊠and that was it! I had a London agent!"
That was far from Kevinâs âbig breakâ. Work dried up for a while but eventually he gets a gig in Glasgow â a film called âSmall Facesâ â and takes his first step away from theatre. âDuring the filming of Small Faces, Danny Boyle was in Glasgow for the pre-production of âTrainspottingâ. Danny hears about the up and-coming actors filming Small Faces and wants to see footage. He asked me to audition for the part of Tommy and the rest is history.â
We chat about filming Trainspotting and the reality of filming a low budget film. He laughs about the one little campervan where all the male cast members would cram in together and get changed into costumes. They would then get out, smoke some cigarettes on the freezing cold street corner, whilst the female cast members got changed.
I canât help but imagine the scene: Kevin McKidd, Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner all crammed into one campervan!
"Whilst we were still filming, the producer showed us the five minute film trailer with that Iggy Pop song. We all thought we had been filming this hard-hitting piece, but what Danny did was mix up real gritty action with pop culture. After seeing the trailer, we realised this could really be something special for Scottish cinema."
âIt wasnât until walking into the premier, and seeing the likes of Liam Gallagher, did I realise this was much more than a film â it was a cultural movement!
âAfter filming Trainspotting, I was living in Partick and work dried up. By the time the premier came around, I had no money and I had to borrow a suit. We got picked up in a limousine to go to the premier, and I remember thinking âI hope weâve got a lift backâ! We didnât, so after the premier, and the big fancy do, me and my girlfriend walked home in the pouring rain!â Everyone told Kevin to move to America after Trainspotting. He said: âThe Trainspotting cast were all doing really well; Ewan (McGregor) had just got the âStar Warsâ gig. However, this is one of the only times I listened to my gut â and got it right.
I was a reasonably innocent boy from Elgin and didnât have much street smart about me. Los Angeles would have just chewed me up and spat me out.â
During his mid 20âs he was forced to take jobs on building sites and pubs to support his young family. He thought heâd made the wrong decision staying in the UK, however, his acting work grows momentum again with work at the Royal Court, and then with the 2002 action horror film âDog Soldiersâ.
In 2003, Kevin finds himself in Bucharest filming âGunpowder, Treason and Plotâ. Bruno Heller (executive producer of the soon to be HBO hit âRomeâ) is also there scoping out the studio next door as a potential filming location. Kevin hears the American voices and introduces himself â it was his first step towards securing the role of âLuciusâ. Throughout our interview, Kevin often talks about âbeing luckyâ or in the right place at the right time. There is clearly an element of luck here, but a lot of hard work, determination and resilience surrounds it.
âI get annoyed when people refer to my âovernight successâ!â Thereâs a real passion in Kevinâs voice now.
"I had 15 years of really hard work before I got the Rome gig. But QMC prepared me for this. The course demanded everything from us, but also prepared us to deal with rejection, failure, and uncertainty."
Rome paves the way to the lead role of Dan Vasser in âJourneymanâ. As the romantic, time-travelling TV show takes off, Kevin makes the big move to LA! However, the 2007/08 writersâ strike begins, and Journeyman is cancelled, LA becomes a ghost town for eight months and Kevin is running out of money ... again. âI picked the worst time to move to LA.â
Kevinâs kids are at school in LA and that is the only thing that keeps him there during this really tough period. However, the writersâ strike ends and one week later Kevin gets a call from his agent to say that Shonda Rhimes (Producer for âGreyâs Anatomyâ) wants to talk to him about a new character in the show. âMy agent tells me the role of Owen Hunt was between me and James Van Der Beek (known for playing Dawson in âDawsonâs Creekâ) but Shonda is going on holiday for two weeks and sheâll decide when sheâs back⊠Two weeks later I get a call saying âShe chose youâ. And that was itâŠIâve been here ever since.â
Kevin has been Owen Hunt in Greyâs Anatomy for eleven years now, and he loves it as much today as he did when he started.
"The life of an actor is like a travelling salesman - youâre living out of a suitcase and you donât know where youâll be next week. With Greyâs Anatomy, Iâve signed long contracts and Iâve used this as a chance to plant my feet in one place for a while. Iâve played this brilliant character, whilst being at home and getting to watch my kids grow up."
The showâs also given Kevin the chance to direct â over 30 episodes so far!
We finish up by talking about Kevinâs bucket list, which involves directing his first film, writing (which is the one aspect that scares him most) and joining the Royal Shakespeare Company â something that Kevin has had to turn down in the past.
"I feel like the past 11/12 years has been a detour on this mad journey that Iâve been on. As they say in America âitâs all been gravyâ."
Kevin studied Diploma in Drama (Acting Studies) and graduated from Queen Margaret College in 1994.
Kevin McKidd - Photo: Mitchell McCormack/Trunk Archive