Séamus McLean Ross secured one of the lead roles in James McAvoy’s directing debut California Schemin’ by first learning how to rap, then putting together a self-tape of two scenes to wangle an in-person audition. It led to a December 2023 meeting with casting director Kahleen Crawford and actor/director McAvoy, who says McLean Ross “was utterly magnetic when he walked into the room. He has movie-star energy as well as being a real actor.”
The film is based on the true story of two hoax Scottish rappers, named Silibil N’ Brains (real names Gavin Bain from Dundee and Billy Boyd from Abroath), who pretended to be American so they would be taken more seriously by the record industry in the early noughties. McLean Ross will play Bain opposite Samuel Bottomley (How To Have Sex), with filming due to begin in September. It will be McLean Ross’s first film role and his biggest job to date.
A graduate of Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, he began his career with a small role in TV thriller Payback, starring Peter Mullan, before scoring a part in the BBC’s Edinburgh-set detective show Rebus. He also had a key role in Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, a prequel to the hit Starz show.
“It’s difficult when you’ve just left drama school and there’s people around you getting big jobs,” admits McLean Ross. “You’re taping, and you feel like you’re doing well and you’re waiting for that call. You have to keep the self-belief that it will happen. It’s such a crazy career that life can go from nothing to everything really fast.”
Performance is in McLean Ross’s DNA. His parents are musicians Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh of Deacon Blue, and he says seeing his mum, who acts as well as sings, when he was 11 in Bryony Lavery’s Beautiful Burnout at London’s York Hall, is a cherished memory. “I thought, ‘What is this? It looks so much fun. I want to be part of such a fun community,’” he reflects.
Looking to the future, McLean Ross, who can also sing and is an accomplished drummer, is agnostic about the material he wants to perform. “As long as it’s a good script and I can find a way to connect with it,” he says.
Contact: Clarence Conway, Independent Talent
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