She'd managed to keep herself completely incognito
Across the mist-laden glens and castle-crowned shores of the Scottish Highlands, Hollywood has arrived to retell a story about immortality — and in doing so, has briefly made the ancient landscape feel both timeless and suddenly, unexpectedly famous again. The remake of Highlander, starring Henry Cavill, Karen Gillan, and Russell Crowe, is filming at the same iconic locations that defined the 1986 original, drawing celebrity pilgrims and curious locals into an unlikely communion. For some, it is a homecoming — Gillan and Kevin McKidd were both raised in Scotland — and for others, it is a quiet reckoning with what fame and tourism can give to a place, and what they can quietly take away.
- A-list Hollywood stars are turning remote Highland villages into impromptu celebrity hotspots, with Russell Crowe spotted at a Fort William supermarket and Dave Bautista dropping into a Loch Ness café.
- Karen Gillan used her 7.6 million Instagram followers to amplify a local postman's 500-mile charity walk, helping him raise £10,000 for the Alzheimer's Society — a moment of quiet generosity that caught the community off guard.
- Local business owners are caught between excitement and pragmatism, screening the original film at community cinemas while half-jokingly wondering whether Russell Crowe would queue for a gull burger.
- The Isle of Skye, already straining under heavy visitor numbers, faces the double-edged prospect of a global film reigniting tourism interest in its landscape.
- The production's return to the exact locations used forty years ago has struck a chord with locals who remember the original shoot — and who now watch a new generation of cameras roll across the same hills.
Henry Cavill, Karen Gillan, and Russell Crowe have arrived in the Scottish Highlands to film a remake of Highlander, the beloved 1986 cult film about an immortal warrior. Cameras are rolling at Glen Coe, the Isle of Skye, and Eilean Donan Castle — the same fortress that featured in the original — bringing an unexpected wave of Hollywood energy to some of Scotland's most remote communities.
The stars have not kept entirely to themselves. Crowe has been photographed at a Fort William supermarket and a roadside restaurant near Kintail. Dave Bautista stopped into a café on the shores of Loch Ness. For local business owners, each sighting has become a small event, and many are quietly hoping a famous face will walk through their door next.
For Gillan, the shoot carries personal weight — she grew up in Inverness before Doctor Who launched her career internationally. Her time on Skye produced one genuinely moving moment: she encountered Murdo MacKinnon, a postman who had just completed a 500-mile charity walk for the Alzheimer's Society, arriving in Portree Square to meet supporters. Unrecognised in the crowd, she filmed his arrival, shared it with her millions of followers, and donated £500 of her own money. MacKinnon said she had gone entirely unnoticed until that point.
The production has stirred real enthusiasm among islanders. The director of the Isle of Skye Candle Company described a palpable buzz, and has organised a screening of the original film at the local community cinema to mark its 40th anniversary. Allan Macdonald, who runs a café in Staffin and grew up watching the first film, appreciates that the remake has returned to the same landscapes rather than relying on digital substitutes — though he remains wryly doubtful that Crowe will be queuing for lunch during a busy service.
Yet the question of what the film's release will mean for Skye lingers. The island already draws significant tourist numbers, and locals are weighing the economic promise of renewed global attention against the very real pressures of absorbing more visitors. The production may leave behind more than memories of celebrity sightings — it may also leave behind a harder conversation about how much of itself a place can share before something essential is lost.
Henry Cavill, Karen Gillan, and Russell Crowe have descended on the Scottish Highlands to film a remake of Highlander, the 1986 cult science fiction film about an immortal warrior locked in eternal combat with his rivals. The original starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery and has retained a devoted following for four decades. Now, with cameras rolling across Glen Coe, the Isle of Skye, and at Eilean Donan Castle—the same fortress that appeared in the first film—the production has brought an unexpected dose of Hollywood glamour to remote corners of northern Scotland.
The presence of A-list talent has not gone unnoticed by locals. Russell Crowe has been spotted at a supermarket in Fort William and dining at The Pit Stop at Kintail, where he obliged fans with photographs. Dave Bautista, Gillan's co-star from Guardians of the Galaxy, stopped by a café in Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness. The sightings have created a low-level celebrity-spotting frenzy, with business owners keeping watch for famous faces and hoping their establishments might be the next to host a Hollywood visitor.
For at least two of the cast members, the Scottish locations carry personal resonance. Karen Gillan grew up in Inverness before her breakthrough role in Doctor Who launched her international career. Kevin McKidd, another star of the remake, was born in Elgin, Moray, and is known for his work in Trainspotting and Grey's Anatomy. Their homecoming has added another layer of interest to the production.
Gillan's time on the Isle of Skye produced an unexpected moment of genuine connection with the community. Murdo MacKinnon, a postman from the Scottish Borders, had completed a grueling 500-mile walk to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society. When he arrived in Portree Square to meet supporters, Gillan was present among the crowd—unrecognized at first. She filmed his arrival, shared it with her 7.6 million Instagram followers, and donated £500 herself to his fundraising effort. MacKinnon described the gesture as humbling, noting that she had gone out of her way to help amplify his cause. "Nobody had noticed she was here," he said. "She'd managed to keep herself completely incognito."
Local business owners have felt the ripple effects of the production. Raghnall Robertson, director of the Isle of Skye Candle Company, observed that the remake has generated a palpable "buzz" across the island. His team has been keeping watch for celebrity customers, with particular hope of spotting Cavill. The production has also inspired Robertson to screen the original Highlander at the community cinema in Portree, marking the film's 40th anniversary and capitalizing on renewed interest in the story.
Allan Macdonald, who runs The Hungry Gull in Staffin, grew up watching the original film and even recalls neighbors who appeared as extras in it. He appreciates that the remake has returned to many of the same locations four decades later, a choice he finds refreshing in an era dominated by digital effects. Yet he has not yet seen any of the new film's stars walk through his door, and he expressed wry skepticism about whether Russell Crowe would be willing to queue for a gull burger during a busy lunch service.
The production's impact on tourism remains an open question. Skye already draws substantial visitor numbers, and Macdonald expressed caution about the island becoming even more crowded. He acknowledged that the film could introduce younger audiences to the landscape and potentially expand the island's appeal, but he questioned how much additional capacity the island could realistically absorb. The tension between the economic benefits of increased tourism and the practical challenges of managing it will likely shape how locals view the production's legacy once filming concludes.
Citas Notables
She'd gone out of her way to film it, she'd gone out of her way to share it, she'd gone out of her way to donate. She didn't have to do any of that.— Murdo MacKinnon, fundraiser
I think one of the best things about it is that they've come back and used a lot of the same locations 40 years later. I think that's pretty cool in the age of CGI.— Allan Macdonald, The Hungry Gull
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that these particular actors are filming in Scotland rather than, say, a studio lot in Los Angeles?
Because they're not hiding. They're walking into supermarkets and cafés, being spotted by locals, creating a sense that something genuinely significant is happening in these small communities. It's not abstract—it's tangible.
Karen Gillan is from there originally, though. Isn't that just her coming home?
It is, but what's interesting is how she used that homecoming. She didn't just film her scenes and leave. She showed up for a stranger's charity walk, amplified his fundraising to millions of people, and donated her own money. That's the kind of thing that sticks with a community.
Do you think the film itself will be good?
The article doesn't really address that. What it's tracking is something different—the cultural moment of a major Hollywood production returning to the same locations 40 years later, and how that collision between past and present plays out in real time.
What's the real tension here?
Tourism. Skye is already crowded. The film could bring more visitors, which means more money for local businesses but also more strain on infrastructure, more noise, more change. The locals seem genuinely uncertain whether that's a good trade.
Has the production changed anything yet?
Not structurally, no. But it's changed the conversation. People are thinking about the original film again, screening it at the community cinema, remembering what it meant to them. That's a kind of change too.