It's a rap: Ewan set to film Scots pair's tale
EWAN McGregor is going behind the camera to tell the incredible story of two Scots who fooled the music industry into believing they were American gangsta rappers.
The Star Wars star will make his feature film debut with the movie about Silibil ’n’ Brains – aka Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain – who spent two years faking Californian accents after being snapped up by Sony. They were paid £150,000, partied with Madonna, played sell-out gigs and toured with Eminem’s band D12.
The duo weren’t from gangsta rap’s notorious ’hood – they were actually college friends in Dundee who decided to fake it after being ridiculed when they rapped in Scottish accents.
The pair got no response when they sent demos to management companies in London. They tried calling to arrange meetings but had the phone hung-up on them before taking drastic action. Eventually Silibil ‘n’ Brains were signed to Sony, attended the Brit Awards, and spent time with celebrities including Little Britain’s David Walliams and Matt Lucas.
The story itself is a true account of what happened to us in London
MTV tipped them alongside Bloc Party and Natasha Bedingfield to be the stars of 2004.
They lived the high life from about 2002 until 2005 when, frustrated by delays in releasing their music, they split up. The project will reunite McGregor with Trainspotting writer Irvine Welsh, who’s been hired to write the screenplay.
Mr Boyd, 28, from Arbroath, revealed yesterday: “I have read the transcript and it is good.
“The story itself is a true account of what happened to us in London.
“Ewan McGregor is wanting to direct so he has got involved with Irvine Welsh again. They are not quite there with the casting yet. But we are not going to play ourselves. We will be getting small parts in the film though.”
The new film will be based on Mr Bain’s book, Cali-fornia Schemin’ which will be published later this year.
Mr Bain, 27, now works in a London watch designers’ office.
