By BEVERLEY LYONS FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL

Published: 20:13 GMT, 2 March 2025 | Updated: 22:41 GMT, 2 March 2025

Hollywood actress Jessica Lange has spoken fondly of her time filming epic historical drama Rob Roy in Scotland – despite being bitten by midges.

The 75-year-old star, who played Mary MacGregor, wife of Liam Neeson’s Rob Roy MacGregor in the 1995 classic, spoke during a visit to Glasgow for the Scots premiere of her movie Long Days Journey into Night at Glasgow Film Theatre with costar Ed Harris.

Speaking of her previous visit to Scotland, the King Kong and Grey Gardens legend, said: ‘It would be great to come back and film in Scotland. 

‘It was a wonderful time we had here during Rob Roy. We were up in the Highlands and it was so beautiful. Yeah it was a great experience. 

‘I loved the cast, I loved the story, but there were a few midges from time to time.’

The script for the movie was penned by Alan Sharp, the Greenock-raised novelist and veteran screenwriter.

Discussing her love of the film and her time in Scotland, Lange told The Times: ‘The script was one of the most beautiful I had ever read. 

Lange played Mary MacGregor, wife of Liam Neeson’s Rob Roy MacGregor in the 1995 classic

The star was in Glasgow to promote film Long Days Journey into Night  with costar Ed Harris

The star was in Glasgow to promote film Long Days Journey into Night  with costar Ed Harris

Lange said she brought her whole family to Scotland while filming Rob Roy

Lange said she brought her whole family to Scotland while filming Rob Roy

‘And working with Liam and that whole cast of great actors and Michael Caton-Jones [the director] it was fantastic. 

‘To top it all off we spent the summer in Scotland. I brought my whole family and we spent the summer in the Highlands. 

‘As far as I remember we were very lucky with the weather, we had so much to shoot outside, so many exterior scenes and apart from some mud going up into the hills we were lucky.’

Of the film adaptation of Long Days Journey Into Night, based on Eugene O’Neill’s classic four part autobiographical play about a morphine addicted mother and alcoholic father.

She said of her character Mary Cavan Tyrone: ‘The essence of Mary is always the same whether I do it on stage in London or New York or on film. 

‘But the film script was much shorter obviously than a four hour film so there were a lot of adjustments to be made because I’d remember moments, lines and scenes and I had to adapt to the fact that we were doing it on screen rather than the entire play on stage.

‘I have to give all the credit in the world to Eugene O’ Neill because he wrote such an absolutely beautiful complete part that was just so fully realised, even down to his stage directions, how the emotion shifts in a moment here and a moment there.

‘I had this tremendous road map to follow but I’ve always loved playing characters who are somewhat teetering on the edge and Mary is maybe one of the greats.’

She also spoke of her dislike of the current trend of Artificial Intelligence on screen, adding: ‘AI I think is a dangerous territory to step into and it’s not something that I would endorse.’

:
Love bites! Holywood actress Jessica Lange loved filming Rob Roy with Liam Neeson but still remembers the dreaded midges

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk