Hollywood star pays tribute to Stone of Denisty nationilst

Sep 28 2008 By John Millar

Exclusive Movie Star Kate Hails Her Scots Inspiration

HOLLYWOOD star Kate Mara has paid tribute to the Scots nationalist who inspired the famous Stone of Destiny heist.

She plays Kay Matheson in a movie inspired by the 1950 hijacking and said the feisty Nat is a real-life hero.

Kay and fellow Glasgow University students Ian Hamilton, Alan Stuart and Gavin Vernon took the stone from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, sparking a nationwide police hunt, before taking it to Arbroath Abbey.

Kate, 25, who stars alongside Robert Carlyle in the film Stone Of Destiny, said she met Ian Hamilton before shooting began to pick his brains about Kay, who now lives in a care home. She said: "It's such an inspiring story, especially for me coming in fresh to it.

"I knew nothing about Scottish nationalism or the Stone of Destiny.

"Ian told me a lot about the real Kay. She was passionate about her country and just loved her people.

"Ian says he believes that she had the truest reasons for going on the adventure. She was doing it solely for the people.

"He says that if it weren't for Kay deciding to continue even though she was really ill there was a very good chance that they wouldn't have gone through with it. She was an inspiring woman."

Flame-haired Kate told how filming in Scotland felt like coming home.

The actress, who also starred in Brokeback Mountain, said: "The red hair definitely shows my roots. As soon as I got to Scotland and looked around I thought, 'My people.' "It's hard to find gingers in New York or Los Angeles.

As soon as I got off the plane I thought, this is where they're all hiding!"

But despite her red hair, Kate has no Scottish roots.

She said: "I'm an Irish-Italian-American. The name Mara used to be O'Mara.

"But I've never been to Ireland, even though the family still have a farm there andmy grandparents go back a couple of times a year.

"After being in Scotland though, I really feel like I have to go there."

Kate has appeared alongside Hollywood megastars including Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Mark Wahlberg and is soon to be seen opposite pop pin-up Justin Timberlake.

But Kate was just as excited at teaming up with Robert Carlyle, Lord Of The Rings star Billy Boyd and Charlie Cox of Stardust fame in Stone Of Destiny.

For Kate, from Bedford, New York, the toughest part of her role was the most obvious - learning how to talk like a true Scot. She said: "Getting the accent was hard, I had never had to do anything like that before.

"Kay is supposed to have a very specific Highland accent but the film is meant for everyone and it would be difficult for non-Scots to understand her, so we chose to make it a standard Scottish accent.

"The first couple of days of trying the accent were horrifying but after the first week it became a bit easier." Kate is probably best known for her role in Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain and later teamed up with Mark Wahlberg for the action movie Shooter.

Soon she'll be seen with Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges in The Open Road, about a son and his estranged father finally getting together.

"It was really fun to do," said Kate.

She revealed that she was the envy of Justin's legion of fans when she witnessed a very special performance by the singer-turned-film-star.

She said: "Justin plays the son of Jeff Bridges and I discovered that Jeff also sings - although I did not know that he had released an album.

"Harry Dean Stanton is also in the film and he sings too and plays the guitar.

"One night when we were all in a bar during the week of rehearsals, Harry took out his guitar and then Jeff joined in and then they passed the guitar to Justin.

"So right there we had this incredible concert with the film's cast. It was something I will never forget."

Stone Of Destiny is released on October 10.

'It's hard to find gingers in LA but Scotland is full of them'

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