Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Brave. On television, she is known for her roles in Boardwalk Empire, The Girl in the Café, and State of Play.
I love that thing on Amazon that you can go on and order a book, and you click on it and it says, 'You might also like,' or 'Other people who bought this have bought that.'
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I tend to get cast as a certain type of quiet, almost introverted person who's strong on the inside, but the characters are so very different I don't see it as any kind of typecasting.
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It's that TV thing. You can be in the biggest film of the year and it will still not have the kind of impact a TV series has. Once you're in people's living rooms, that's it. There's no hiding place.
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They're naughty, all those writers - they mess around with people. I know James Gandolfini got a bit fed up on 'The Sopranos': if he said anything in front of a writer, told them a story from his life, it could make its way into the script.
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It was both comforting and terrifying to go in to audition for 'The Girl in the Cafe,' as I'd worked with everyone in the room on 'State Of Play.'
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L.A. is brilliant, but however long my trip is I'm always ready to leave. But New York I'm never quite happy to see the back of.
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What I'm normally associated with are darker, more brooding roles.
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A few years ago, if you had told me I'd be moving back to Glasgow I'd have said, 'No way'. But it's changed. It's much more vibrant, bohemian. But I'm 35 and I've become a bit of a homebody, I don't really go out much. Same in New York. My home could be anywhere but I love Glasgow.
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I don't lobby where work is concerned. As long as I know I've got something coming up, I don't really worry. It's not that I'm not ambitious, but I don't have a drive to be hugely successful and be working all the time.
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I get claustrophobic in a harness. I'd be a terrible superhero.
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I'm no good at anecdotes.
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I'm so not a celebrity.
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I've done TV and I've done film, and I'm not snobby about it. It's about the project.
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It can get a bit boring working on accents.
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[on Trainspotting (1996) in 2012] I was uncomfortable with the explicit nudity. I was in denial, head in the sand about that day's work. I just nodded my head and agreed and got along with it. But nudity's out now. You won't even get me in a bikini on set, frankly. Yeah, I was 19. It was a different body, a different life.
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Fact
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She was the last person to be cast in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). Subsequently she was the last person ever to join the large cast of the 'Harry Potter' story.
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Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 36, a son Theodore William Payne on December 8, 2012. Child's father is her husband, Dougie Payne.
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Gave birth to her 1st child at age 32, a son Freddie Peter Payne on March 9, 2008. Child's father is her husband, Dougie Payne.
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For her role on Boardwalk Empire (2010), she was named one of the "8 Actors Who Turn Television into Art", in the cover story of The New York Times Magazine (9/11/11).
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Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son Freddie in order to begin filming Skellig: The Owl Man (2009).
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Was two months pregnant with her son Freddie when she completed filming on Choke (2008).
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Trainspotting (1996) was released on Kelly's 20th birthday.
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Auditioned for roles in The Matrix (1999), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Moulin Rouge! (2001).
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1999: Named as one of European films 'Shooting Stars' by European Film Promotion.
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