Robert Carlyle has always been "a bit of a loner" and believes it started during his "dark" childhood.
Robert Carlyle has opened up about his tough childhood growing up in Glasgow
The 'Trainspotting' star's mum walked out when he was a child and he was raised by a single dad in Glasgow, Scotland and Robert admits his tough upbringing made him feel isolated and "different" to his peers.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he explained: "I’ve always been a bit of a loner to be honest ... I always think about it as darkness and light, my life, because the first part of it was pretty dark. My mother had left when I was a wee boy.
"I was brought up by my dad alone in Glasgow in the 60s, and the single- parent family, there was not a lot of that around, especially a single-parent family with a father.
"That made me instantly different from the rest of the people who were around me. Genuinely, I’ve never really spoken about this before. But I guess that’s probably where it started."
Robert went on to insist he felt like an outsider at school because he was often reminded about being part of a single-parent family.
He added: "When I was very young, yeah, definitely. It’s the little things ... Back in the day, if you had to get permission for something, the teachers would say, bring a note in from your mum. Stuff like that. Of course, when you don’t have that, that really hits home, even when you’re a wee boy.”
The actor now lives in Canada with his wife Anastasia Shirley and their three children - aged 21, 19 and 17 - but he still keeps a home in Glasgow where he grew up - but Robert says he prefers the relaxed lifestyle in Vancouver.
He said: "There’s a laid-back attitude and quality here I enjoy,"
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