I was about eight or nine-years-old and it was pivotal for me because being on stage, paradoxically, felt safe. It felt like a safe place to express myself with someone else’s words that I could interpret.

Living in Elgin the idea of being an actor does not pop into your mind but that play was the beginning of the journey I ended up on.

2 IONA

When we were in Primary Seven we had another brilliant teacher called Jan Weir who gave us a project to do about Iona. We studied the island for the whole term; its topography, history, flora and fauna and at the end of it we went there on a school trip.

Our family did not have much money and I hadn’t been out of Elgin much. It was five days with all my pals and although the weather was mixed it was beautiful. I had never been somewhere so beautiful and I didn’t know places could be like that. The idea that people got on ferries to go to their house or go to school was such a different way of life and seemed so exotic.

I remember going back to Elgin and making a decision not only to call my daughter – if I ever had one – Iona, but also that I always would go back there which I have done.

It made me realise I did not want to stay in Elgin as there was something outside that was calling me. I did not know what the f*** that was but I was going to find out. That trip to Iona gave me an adventurous spirit.

3 MY GRANDAD GEORDIE

He was my mum’s dad and I dedicated the first Speyside album to him. He was a drinker but also a brilliant raconteur. As a farmhand he spent his whole life working the land but once he had a shot of whisky in him he had the ability to recall all these old stories.

I remember sitting in his house at New Year and he would be sitting with his fags and people from the community would be there waiting for him to have one too many so he would start telling his stories.

I remember watching him and seeing how he had this knack of being able to change the atmosphere in the room. It was like he was a magician. Watching him and being aware of his special ability to entertain a group of people made me want to be able to do that.

He passed when I was in my 20s but he has been my inspiration and we did the Speyside Sessions to put a new spin on these traditional songs and keep them alive in Geordie Runcie’s honour.

4 MY FIRST REJECTION

When I was in Primary Seven I was the understudy for the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist, the musical. Suddenly, leading up to the opening night, the boy that was the Artful Dodger got chickenpox so the teacher took me out of class and starting cramming the words and songs into my head.

I learned it all and started getting excited and nervous about playing the part. We had a big dress rehearsal in Elgin Town Hall and at the end of it the director asked for a round of applause for me as he said I had done so well.

I thought “OK, this is my moment to become a star” but sure enough the next day the wee kid turns up and his mum says he’s better. The director took us both aside and said to the other boy that I had worked really hard to learn the part and would it be okay if I did one of the three nights – but the boy burst into tears and I was sent back into the obscurity of the chorus.

It felt so unfair but you get a lot of rejections in this industry and it gave me a thicker skin and a drive.

5 EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY

I did a lot of musical theatre at school and so, when I got to university, I went with my pal, Jamie, to check out the student Bedlam Theatre. We went in and some boy who was about 19 was sitting in the café with a Sherlock Holmes hat on, smoking a pipe. We just looked at each other.

However, you could sign up for open auditions and one of the plays was Bent which made Ian McKellen famous. It is about two gay men in Nazi Germany who are sent to a concentration camp and fall in love with each other. It is a heartbreaking, brilliant play and I got a part in it. That was when the theatrical world opened up to me.

I was studying engineering but quickly realised I hated being an engineer and I spent my time at the Bedlam Theatre, building sets, doing lighting and acting in different plays. That year made me know for sure that this was what I wanted to do and I auditioned for a drama course at Queen Margaret College and got in straight away.

I phoned my mum and dad from a pay phone and told them. I was so surprised at their reaction because, although they thought doing theatre was a big risk compared with being an engineer, they said I should do what made me happy and I will always be grateful for that.

6 MY FOUR KIDS

The birth of each one was pivotal for different reasons. Joseph was the first and it made me realise that there was something else to live for other than just my own needs and drive and passion.

I was 26 when Joseph was born and I don’t think I was a bad father with the first two but I did not have money, savings or job security and a lot of stress in my life as a young father was wondering if I would be able to keep food on the table. We were living in a rough estate in Peckham and I could not get an acting job so I was working in pubs and on construction sites, building big skyscrapers. It was really scary knowing I had to provide for these young people.

Second time around I have been able to be more relaxed. We have a toddler and a baby but now I can enjoy the experience of being a dad with less of that anxiety.

7 A CAREER CHANGE

I had been Tommy in Trainspotting and also played a lot of villains but when I was in my late 20s I decided I wanted to be more of a leading man. I tried to buff myself up by going to the gym and started saying no to character roles and villains. I had a rough couple of years but the tide slowly turned.

Kevin McKidd, second from right, as Tommy in Trainspotting. However it was his decision to go for more leading man roles that changed his career

I did AfterLife, directed by Alison Peebles, and 16 Years of Alcohol, directed and written by Richard Jobson, which were both mega-low budget films and I was the leading man in both. AfterLife won the audience award at the Edinburgh Festival and I was nominated for best actor for 16 Years in the British Independent Film Awards.

I took a chance playing those leads and it took a while but it worked. It was so exciting to see that if you stick to your aims and have patience, then things can work out.

People often think it must have been Trainspotting that was the springboard for my career and, while it was in the early years, I think this period was the crucible for the rest.

Early on I decided that what I wanted to do with my career was keep changing, keep people guessing and keep it interesting. I’ve always wanted to try directing and when I started playing Owen Hunt in Grey’s Anatomy I got the opportunity to do it and I’ve now directed over 30 episodes.

8 THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA

We went to LA so I could do a pilot called Journeyman but it was the time of the big writers’ strike in Hollywood and everything shut down for six months. We were in a rented house with two young kids, wondering whether to stay or go home, when Obama ended up winning the presidential election. The feeling in the States at that point was really positive and we decided as a family that we wanted to stay and be part of it. Obama’s election seemed hopeful and inspirational.

It was a big decision to take our lives in that direction but we ended up becoming citizens.

9 LIAM NEESON

When I was in my late 20s I was in a film called Kingdom of Heaven which was made in Spain and Morocco. I was playing a small role and in the film Liam was my boss. Everyone looked up to him – it was like he was the dad of all of us.

It was then that I got offered the part in Rome but I had already committed to a couple of independent films in Scotland . They didn’t yet have the money to make them but I had put my name to them and as I didn’t know too much about American TV or what HBO was I turned down the part in Rome.

Some of the boys in the cast told Liam and, one night when we were all in the pub in this wee village, he scowled and told me to go outside with him. I was wondering what I had done but he asked me if it was true that I had turned down Rome. I said it was and he told me I would regret it and should run – not walk – to the nearest phone, call my agent and tell her I had changed my mind. He was kind but very serious and told me it could change my life. I did what he said and my agent said they had just come back and offered me more money for the role. I owe him a big debt.

10 MEETING ARIELLE

That was a big moment for me. She’s an incredible, very strong-minded, New York Jewish chef with beautiful tattoos who loves horses and is totally different to me.

I met her because I was having a birthday party and I needed a caterer. My pal recommended Arielle and I got in touch with her by email. We met two days before and something just clicked.

We have been together four years and got married in January 2018. I split up from my older kids’ mum in 2015 and was single for a year. I didn’t want to get married again and was quite happy with a bachelor life – but then she came along and she blew me away.

I feel very lucky for that chance meeting as she is generous, kind-hearted and very joyful about life. I have had a busy life and taken a few knocks and it is great to be able to share my life with someone who is a good person, passionate and talented.