A leading Hollywood character actor has revealed how she brought her family to the UK premiere of her new film after discovering her Scottish roots.
Dale Dickey has featured in over 130 supporting roles in films and TV series from Iron Man 3 and Hell or High Water to Breaking Bad and True Blood.
Now the LA-based actor has revealed she can trace her ancestors to Scotland as far back as the mid 15th century – when James II was on the throne – and hopes to visit Edinburgh to continue her search.
Dickey, 62, fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition when she touched down in Scotland recently for the UK premiere of her new film, “The G”, at the 2024 Glasgow Film Festival.
She plays the lead role of Ann Hunter in Karl R Hearne’s dark revenge thriller, “that proves hell hath no fury like a grandmother scorned”.
The prolific actor said the film was a rare chance to star in a lead role. But with the UK premiere being held in Glasgow, it was also a dream opportunity to discover more about her heritage and ancestry.
Dickey was born and raised near the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, settled centuries ago by Scots due to its similarity to the Highlands of their homeland. And she felt an instant “kinship” when she arrived following her long flight.
She said: “I’ve dreamed of coming to Scotland for so long. My father, who recently passed away, had begun to do genealogy years ago and he was able to trace our family back to Glasgow in the 1450s — I have a whole chart.
“So when Karl called me and said ‘we’re going to the Glasgow Film Festival’, I said ‘What? I don’t care what it costs, I’m getting my ticket and going.
“I’ve brought my husband and my brother. We flew into Glasgow and as we came below the clouds I said to my brother ‘hey Chuck it looks like East Tennessee, very green and chilly with lots of lakes’.
“We’re going to stay on after the Festival, hire a car and try to find out more about where we came from. I’m looking forward to digging into our past and maybe finding some old haunts.
“We definitely want to visit Edinburgh, see the sights and look at the records to see what else we can find out.”
Dickey began her acting career in the theatre, including appearing alongside Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice on Broadway in 1989.
But to millions, she is best known for some of her gritty screen roles.
In Breaking Bad, she famously played meth addict Stooge’s “Skank” Lady’ – the only female character in the entire series to commit a murder – and for five years in the hit comedy series My Name is Earl she played “Patty the daytime hooker”.
On the big screen, she won a best supporting female award for her role in Winter’s Bone opposite Jennifer Lawrence and she appeared as Mrs Davis opposite Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man 3.
Dickey was able to reveal a softer side when she was finally cast in a leading role in a movie in the romantic drama A Love Song in 2022, for which she won critical acclaim opposite legendary Last of the Mohicans star Wes Studi.
The soon-to-be-released “The G” is only her second leading role in a movie, and another chance for fans to see her acting range as an older woman “who refuses to accept that her life is over”.
Her character Ann and her sick husband are exploited by a corrupt legal guardian who puts them in a care facility in order to take their home and money. When her granddaughter is threatened, The G seeks revenge.
Dickey said: “The G is downtrodden, drinking too much, smoking too much, hating her life, not wanting to embrace getting older and it’s going downhill when she and her husband get attacked and swept up into this scam.
“She has a past that she has let go but it comes back with a vengeance when people cross her, and she is very protective of her granddaughter, who is all she has left.
“They f*** with the wrong grandmother, to put it bluntly.”
Dickey added: “It turns into an elder revenge story, but with an older female lead which is unusual.
“It’s usually the kind of film you see a male role in so it’s a nice twist on the thriller, to see an older woman. I’m not doing flying stunts or anything but she is a tough cookie. It’s a great role.”
Dickey said that as a young actor she was told by some she wasn’t pretty enough to play the leading lady, nor quirky enough for other Hollywood roles.
When she made her first screen appearance, in police drama Cagney & Lacey, star Tyne Daly told her to embrace her unique look.
She said: “I was wanting to move to LA at the time. I said to Tyne ‘everyone tells me oh you’re going to fail there, you don’t have the right look’. Tyne said ‘Dale, you must embrace the way you look, you have a wonderful face and you will work more and more as you get older, I promise’.
“Well, damned if that didn’t come true. After A Love Song came out I hadn’t seen Tyne in years but she called and said ‘someone finally figured it out didn’t they’?
“I’ve built a career through the years as co-star, guest star, recurring actor, I do a lot of supporting roles and I’ve gotten to work with a lot of wonderful people.
“I’ve played a lot of badass tough cookies. I’m used to it. I do love it. Most people when they meet me want to cross the street, from the fierce roles that I’ve played.
“When you see me on screen I’m usually coming out of a trailer with a shotgun and a bottle of vodka, but I’m pretty nice in person.
“I love what I do, I’ve been doing it my whole life, and The G is a wonderful role. It was just a terrific experience.”
She added: “My father passed away last April. He was 96 years old and had quit travelling years ago but it was his dream to come to Scotland.
“Over the years he would always send me cuttings of Scotland and ask ‘why did they ever leave that beautiful country?’
“He was a simple man and didn’t want a big fuss but at his funeral we played Loch Lomond as a farewell song. It’s one of the places we plan to go while we’re in Scotland.
“I would love to come back to work, it would be a dream.”
The G will be released in cinemas soon.
