Robert Carlyle says “life is complete” after ‘The Simpsons’ tribute
After a recent episode of The Simpsons referenced Trainspotting, Robert Carlyle, who portrayed Begbie in the Danny Boyle film, has claimed “life is complete”.
The episode, called Ae Bonny Romance, sees Homer and his family travel to Scotland, with one scene featuring an aeroplane that reads ‘Planespotting’ on the side of it.
The tail of the plane is decorated with a cartoon of Carlyle’s Begbie, looking as furious as he often does in the 1996 film. Upon finding out, the actor wrote on Twitter, “My life is complete..”
Boyle’s film, which is fast approaching its 30th anniversary, is considered a landmark work of British cinema, expertly exploring poverty and drug addiction with a sharp, comedic edge.
Alongside the reference to Begbie, one of Trainspotting‘s most iconic characters, the episode also included the voices of some Scottish stars, such as Doctor Who alumni David Tennant and Karen Gillian.
Carlyle’s character is the most terrifying in the film, often getting into fights or ransacking rooms. The performance helped to further his career, which only continued upwards when he starred in The Full Monty the following year.
In an interview with The Guardian in promotion of 2017’s T2 Trainspotting, Carlyle reflected on the legacy of the original movie. He said, “It’s a horrible word now, but in that Britpop moment, the film was right in the centre of everything. We all felt that when it came out. Politically, you felt it too. Change was coming.”
In a four-and-a-half star classic review of Trainspotting, Far Out wrote: “The crowning achievement of Trainspotting is the magical combination of a stellar soundtrack and Brian Tufano’s fantastic cinematography. Trainspotting’s visual narrative has its own duality: recreating the atmospheric comfort of a heroin high as well as the horrors of withdrawal.”
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