There’s a pleasing pattern to Ross Anderson’s character choices: all interesting Scottish men. There’s his big-screen debut as Fionn in The Silent Storm, followed quickly by Blackie in Unbroken and Rosse in 2015’s Macbeth. “Yeah, I know, I’m really ticking them off at the moment,” Ross told Glass. His role as an eccentric Englishman in BBC 1’s Privates last year is the exception, but is no less pleasing – the character even has its own fan Tumblr, but Ross admits, “I think it was [started by] one of my brothers. I have five younger brothers and they all loved the series.”
Set on a wild and remote Scottish island, The Silent Storm follows the love triangle between an enigmatic outsider (Andrea Riseborough), her commanding Presbyterian minister husband (Damian Lewis) and Ross’s character, a poetry-loving delinquent sent to them for rehabilitation. “It was my first film, so I really wanted to make a good first impression,” says Ross.
This month see him in Unbroken, a World War II drama directed by Angelina Jolie. Ross plays a prisoner of war opposite the who’s who in young Brit talent (Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson and Luke Treadaway). And next year sees him in Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, starring alongside Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
Your fight scenes with Damian Lewis weren’t quite “acting” – you ended up with bruises. Is that true?
There are a couple of altercations in the film. We had a stunt co-ordinator, but Damian and I said to each other, ‘Let’s just go for it,’ and he took that quite literally. He threw me against a tree and I ricocheted backwards, hitting my head. When I woke up the next morning, I had a splitting headache. It was nice to see that in the cinema, and hear the reaction of the audience, which is why we did it – we wanted it to have that effect.
Fionn, your character in The Silent Storm, loves poetry. Where there any poems that appealed to you?
During the initial stages of filming, Andrea [Riseborough, who plays Aislin] and I went through a lot of war poetry, which is what the character would have been into at the time. It was interesting to read what had been written in that period – especially by soldiers. Some poems were about family stuff, but a lot were about their experiences in the war.
In the film, Damian’s character, Balor, has just gone over to the mainland, leaving Aislin and Fionn alone together on the beach. There’s a poem I read about a guy who’s down on his luck, but how he’s just going to push on with things. At the time I felt the opposite: I felt really lucky to be in that position, playing that part, alongside those great actors. But I could relate: before I was cast as Fionn, I was feeling the same. It was nice to have a moment of reflection, lying on the beach staring our over the Mull Bay – which is where we were filming.
Your characters in The Silent Storm and Macbeth are both Scottish, how do you tackle the variations in accent?
The Silent Storm’s Fionn was from the Glasgow docks and I’m from Glasgow myself, so I was able to use more of my own accent than when I was playing Rosse in Macbeth. Rosse is a member of the king’s court and has lived all of his life among royalty, so he’s much more articulate. And of course, it’s Shakespeare as well, so you have to be articulate for people to understand what you’re saying. It’s nice to have variations like that.
How’d Damian Lewis do with tackling his Scottish accent in The Silent Storm?
Damian was doing a particular Scottish Highland accent, which I thought was bang on. It’s a hard accent to do; it’s very broad and musical. I thought he did it brilliantly. I love what Damian did in the film, I think it’s a brave performance. He was just amazing to watch and to work with.
Tell me about Blackie, your character in Unbroken.
Blackie is the leader of a band of Scots. Historically, in the prisoner of war camps, there was a secret black market where the soldiers were put to work. Some of them ran a network where they stole various bits and pieces, including food. They had an intricate method, which allowed them to steal rice involving a sharpened piece of bamboo in their trousers legs. They had all sorts of secret ways to steal food, which they would then distribute to sick POWs to help bring their weight up, or which they’d trade on the black market. My character runs this operation. Laura Hillenbrand writes in her book that the Scots were the best at this, for some reason; they were the best thieves, they were the sneaky ones.
What was it like to work with Angelina Jolie who produced and directed Unbroken?
I auditioned, sending off a tape, not expecting to hear back. But a week after I’d sent it, I was offered the part and Angelina got in contact to ask me my thoughts on it and what my views were on the physical aspects of the character and his relationships with the other guys in the camp. She wanted to make it a collaborative process. When we were over in Australia, she allowed me to play with the character and even make some improvisations. It’s amazing to work with a director who trusts you enough to let you do that. She was brilliant setting up the scenes and the relationships within the scenes. I appreciated that. As an actor, she understands how it works.
You played quite an eccentric character in Privates, are they easier to play than ones that are quite serious?
Eccentric characters are more fun to play. There’s more that you can do with them. I loved playing that part. It was my first TV role, I hadn’t done any film, and the director just took a chance on me. Before we went out to film it, the writer didn’t really know the best way to execute this character. On paper he looks crazy. I said, ‘Don’t worry, I think I’ve got it,’ and they just let me off the leash. I had no choice but to go for it and hope for the best. It seems to have come out quite well, I think. [Laughs]
Which of the characters you’ve played have you most identified with?
It probably has to Fionn, because he wants to make a good impression – and it was my first film, so I really wanted to make a good first impression, too. He was a like a fireball ready to explode with energy and I felt like that throughout the entire experience: just wanting to work and give the best performance I could possibly give.
by Natalie Egling
All photographs by Justin van Vliet
M.A.C Senior Artist Rebecca Butterworth using M.A.C Cosmetics
Unbroken is on general release on December 26