Actress Kelly Macdonald, best known for her breakout role in the 1996 film Trainspotting, has revealed she was once part of the Young Socialists and regularly attended political demonstrations with her mother as a young woman. The disclosure offers a contrast to her early screen image as a conservative Edinburgh schoolgirl, showing a more rebellious, politically engaged side to her upbringing in Glasgow before fame found her.

Speaking to Big Issue magazine, the 50-year-old said her mother, Patricia Kelly, became involved in politics as a mature student, taking her to numerous demonstrations, including a large gathering in Liverpool in the early 1990s where they slept on a sports hall floor. She recalled still knowing anti-poll tax chants from the era, including "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out", aimed at then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and said that although she isn't overtly political now, the experience has stayed with her. Macdonald went on to play schoolgirl Diane Coulston in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, a role that launched her acting career alongside co-star Ewan McGregor.