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'I never thought I'd make it as an actor but now I'm up for a Bafta'

Benjamin Russell
Getty Images Scott Ellis Watson smiling at a red carpet event, wearing a light grey suit, a white collared shirt, and a green and blue tartan tie, standing in front of a dark backdrop featuring white sponsor logos including Netflix.Getty Images
Scott Ellis Watson landed his first acting role in the hit film I Swear

When Scott Ellis Watson dropped drama in school he could never have guessed he would one day be walking the red carpet as a nominee at the Scottish Baftas.

The now 16-year-old thought acting was out of reach, and gave up the subject to focus on becoming a pilot, but after an acclaimed turn as the young John Davidson in the hit movie I Swear, he was rewarded with another prominent role in the movie adaptation of BBC drama Ghosts.

Scott, from Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire, tells BBC Scotland: "I just never thought that film acting was a career that I could have done, so I never really chased it. I didn't have that faith in myself."

I Swear tells the true story of John Davidson, a Galashiels boy who developed severe Tourette's Syndrome as a teenager and went on to become a vocal campaigner for his illness, winning an MBE in 2019 for his efforts.

It was one of Scotland and the wider UK's most notable critical and commercial hits of 2025, and the accolades are still coming.

After winning three awards at the national Baftas, it is also up for eight Scottish Baftas.

In fact, all three nominees in the Best Actor category are from the film - including Scott.

Describing himself as "flabbergasted" to be up for the honour, Scott has his kilt ready for the glamorous event in Glasgow on Sunday.

Getty Images Seven cast members of I Swear standing side-by-side in smart-casual and formal outfits in front of a blue promotional backdrop featuring I Swear and Studiocanal logos, while John Davidson lies across the red carpet in front of them in blue-and-yellow tartan trousers, a dark jacket, and a patterned shirt, smiling and raising a fist.Getty Images
The young actor said he felt a big responsibility to do justice to John Davidson's experience of being a teenager with Tourette's

The role was Scott's first, but he initially sent his audition tape for a smaller part, a character called "Lad One". When the team received it just six weeks before filming was due to start, they asked him to come in and try out for young John.

"I was like 'I've never done any acting before' and then I went in and got the role. Then I went on holiday for two weeks to Florida and I couldn't get a tan so I was wearing a cap and factor fifty, and I was sat in the shade."

He spent his holiday on video calls with voice and movement coaches, and when he returned he had two weeks to "lock in", learn his lines, and how to imitate John's movements and tics.

He and John worked "closely together" to get the portrayal right.

He says he felt a huge sense of responsibility to John. Touchingly, afterwards John sent him a card, writing: "Thank you so much for being me so well in the film."

"Everyone was working together, making sure we did it right. I think they called it a passion project - so rather than it being for cinemas it's for John and for awareness."

Playing the part when he was just 13 years old also came with its own difficulties.

Some of the words and phrases he had to shout out were embarrassing and inappropriate, particularly in one situation where he had to shout an explicit phrase to a female cast member around the same age.

Courtesy of Studiocanal Scott Ellis Watson seen in a scene from I Swear. He is running down a residential pavement in a black school uniform with a red tie, carrying a black shoulder bag and a blazer slung over his shoulders, past vintage cars including a beige Ford Cortina.Courtesy of Studiocanal
Scott made his acting debut in I Swear when he was just 13-years-old

"I still had to shout at a girl my age, regardless of if I was acting or not it still felt uncomfortable. They said 'if you want to try something different then we can', and I was like 'no this is the way you want the story; I'll have to do it'."

Instead, the team asked him to shout "chuck the stick" when rehearsing, and only used the real phrase when the cameras were rolling.

Scott's next project gave him the chance to try something new. He starred in Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, which was released in October and debuted at number one in the UK and Ireland box office. His part, Jack Marsh, is a daring teenage ghost hunter whose body was taken over by a sleazy ghost after a séance went awry.

Scott says: "With I Swear, there was a lot of getting it right but with Ghosts there was a lot of creative freedom... I Swear is a serious drama with humour in it, whereas Ghosts is a comedy with a little bit of drama in it."

PA Media A still from Ghosts: The Possession of Button House showing three teenagers standing outdoors at night beside a chain-link fence with bicycles lying on the grass behind them. Two hold flashlights—a girl in a black jacket and grey hoodie on the left, a boy in a red hoodie and dark jacket in the centre, and a boy with glasses in a red tracksuit jacket on the right—all looking intently toward the right.PA Media
The 16-year-old plays the lead role in Ghosts: The Possession of Button House

Scott has already landed his next role in All in the Same Boat - a comedy-drama based on the true story of the gay cruise ship stewards who worked alongside British troops aboard a requisitioned liner during the 1982 Falklands War.

The film, which is set to get underway next year, will see Scott starring alongside the likes of Rupert Everett and Stephen Fry.

With his career ahead of him, and an exciting night coming up at the Scottish Baftas, Scott has big ambitions but thinks I Swear might be a hard gig to beat: "It's touched so many people, and people still reach out to me to say how it has impacted them, and that's all I could ever ask for."