Dylan Delayed

Sleek and dashing as revolutionary general Thomas Fairfax in To Kill a King, Dougray Scott gained no less than three stone to play Dylan Thomas in Mick Jagger-produced Dylan Thomas biopic Map of Love - and then promptly took it all off again when filming didn't start. Currently languishing in the development phase, the film may be delayed but, according to Scott, Map of Love is still on his schedule. "They're still trying to get the money for it," Scott told Empire Online. "I was going to do it this year so I put on all this weight over Christmas, then I had to take it all off again when I knew it wasn't going to happen. It's one of those projects that I will do, just not as soon as I thought." A biography of the larger-than-life, hell-raising wordsmith, the film will draw out Scott's lyrical side as he slips into the Welshman's shoes. "People are very supportive of me playing Dylan Thomas. I can't think why, I mean, I'm a Scotsman playing Dylan Thomas, but they've been great. It's a wonderful script and a wonderful story; I've done a lot of research already." More immediately on the Scottish actor's slate is Idlewild which, you'll be surprised to hear, is not an account of the guitar-swinging rockers of the same name, but rather sees Scott playing a dashing young gigolo. "Fantastic research for that one!" he laughs. "He's a great character, a very damaged guy. He was brought up an orphan and he lives in a very loveless environment. He's a user, he uses women but then he meets one woman who makes him reassess everything about himself and look at life differently. It's a very gentle, fragile intriguing story."