Is Scotland home? I think it's somewhere
I used to live, says star John Hannah

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:37, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 19:37, 20 July 2026 He is known for retaining his Scots accent despite moving to England more than 30 years ago. And now, actor John Hannah has claimed Scotland doesn’t feel quite like home. The 64-year-old was born and raised in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire but moved south during his early acting career. And speaking about Scotland in a Radio Times interview, the Four Weddings and a Funeral star said: ‘I think it’s somewhere I used to live.’ But the star, who also starred in The Mummy trilogy, agreed his accent, which has remained unchanged since settling in London with wife and actress Joanna Roth, with whom he has twins Gabriel and Astrid, now 22, has done him no harm. He was speaking ahead of his new show Benidorm Is Murder in which he plays a former UK detective who relocates to Spain to run a bar but is pulled back into a life of solving crimes when tourists start turning up dead. John Hannah and with his wife, actress Joanna Roth  Hannah was speaking about Scotland in a Radio Times interview Hannah described the series, which airs on Channel 5 next week, as ‘very much a love letter to Benidorm’ based on working-class Brits travelling to the holiday resort. He said: ‘It’s surprisingly diverse, and it’s more realistic that Brits would be hot-footing it there rather than the Caribbean.  'It’s not where I’d necessarily choose to go, but if my parents were still alive, they would love it.’ In 2015, Hannah, who began his working life an apprentice electrician before embarking on a life on the big screen, reportedly returned to East Kilbride to sell the family’s home following the death of his father John senior and later his mother Susan. And when East Kilbride, Scotland’s first official new town, celebrated its 75th anniversary, he recalled his childhood with fond memories. He said: ‘I loved my upbringing and neighbourhood; the adventures, the schools, the brave new world of the new town.’ Hannah, who has also starred in blockbusters Sliding Doors and Spartacus, added that his father, who worked as a toolmaker, and his mother, who was a cleaner in a local supermarket, ‘certainly had a good time’. He previously said: ‘I think my parents, moving to that environment from a Gorbals tenement to back and front garden must’ve been bliss.’