Braveheart and Game of Thrones star James Cosmo has lent his voice to a new film celebrating 20 years of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The 78-year-old Scottish actor recites a poem written by serving soldier Corporal Fraser Hall, from Alloa, which was chosen as the winner of a competition held as part of the regiment’s anniversary year.
Cosmo has a long-standing connection with the regiment. In 2021 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of 7 SCOTS, the Army Reserve battalion whose soldiers are drawn from across the Highlands, Islands and north of Scotland.
The Clydebank-born actor is known around the world for playing Campbell in Braveheart, Jeor Mormont in Game of Thrones and Renton’s dad in Trainspotting.
In the new short film, his narration is joined by people representing different stages of military life, from a cadet to a serving soldier and a veteran.
Cpl Hall, 35, joined the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2007, a year after it was formed. His poem draws on his experience of beginning as a cadet, becoming a soldier and eventually looking towards life as a veteran.
He said having Cosmo read his words was a “huge honour”.
Cosmo said: “What struck me about the poem is that it respects where the regiment has come from while looking confidently to where it goes next.”
The film also features 14-year-old Isabella Robertson, from Dunfermline, who is part of the Dollar Academy Combined Cadet Force Contingent.
Hamilton veteran Mark Ferguson, 32, represents the other end of the military journey. He served for 13 years with 4 SCOTS before beginning a new career with the Fire and Rescue Service.
Cpl Hall appears as both the poem’s author and its serving soldier.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland was formally created on 28 March 2006, bringing together six historic Scottish infantry regiments whose collective history stretches back almost four centuries.
They included the Royal Scots, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, Royal Highland Fusiliers, Black Watch, Highlanders and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
The modern regiment now comprises three regular battalions, an incremental company and two Army Reserve battalions.
Its soldiers have served on operations including in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as peacekeeping and other deployments around the world.
The film is the latest event marking the regiment’s 20th anniversary during 2026.
In July, King Charles – Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment – unveiled a bronze statue in Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens following an anniversary parade through the capital.
Created by Edinburgh artist Kenny Hunter, the sculpture depicts a reclining lion guarding the regiment’s cap badge. Its plinth is made from six sections of stone representing the six historic infantry regiments brought together to create the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Major General Robin Lindsay, Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, said Cpl Hall’s poem reflected the development of the regiment’s identity and was a fitting way to recognise both those who had shaped its first two decades and those who would shape its future.
The anniversary film is being shown through the Royal Regiment of Scotland’s official social media channels.