We all know that Sean Connery was a milkman before he became a movie star. I've turned that progression on its head by playing a milkman in a movie today. Of course the milk business isn't what it was in Fountainbridge in big Tam's day. The "Tears of Milk" production team had to go all the way to Berwick, yes Berwick England, to find a dairy with a milk float.

After a 6.30 departure from Leith Walk I found myself by the side of a one track road on the Scottish side of the border in freezing mist waiting and waiting and........waiting. But then my part is the bottom third of page 14 of a 20 page script and this is the last day of a ten day shoot.

Eventually for me it's "action" but the milk float won't move. "Cut", free the drive wheels from the mud and off we go driving past the principal actors. That's my first scene over. Well not over yet. One take is never enough.

After a while we're ready for my second scene. In this one I get out of the milk float, take two bottles of milk from a crate on the back, take a couple of steps, notice a man approaching, deliver a line, pursue him as he passes me and jumps into my cab, deliver another line and recoil as he pulls a knife on me. The director wants to do this as one shot but the cameraman is not so sure. We try it a few times as one shot.

Then we split it into two, or was it three shots and do them all three or four times. Next comes the second part of the same scene filmed from behind my shoulder.

OK we've got several takes for that one so it's on to the next. This is my recoil as the knife is pulled from the point of view of the man pulling the knife. So the cameraman gets into the cab, the director squeezes in beside him to have a look, discovers there's a screw loose on the camera which explains some earlier problems. The sound man has a wee screwdriver and that fixes that. Only 17 minutes recording time left on the sound gadget he proclaims.

Then someone climbs onto the bonnet with a reflector to get more light into the cab. He's fighting the wind to control the reflector and I can't see quite where he's getting any light from but the cameraman declares that it's worthwhile. Being a shorthanded crew the director does the clapper-board then runs round the milk float to watch the shot on a monitor, shouts "action" and I recoil. In fact I recoil in shock and then step backwards reconciled to my milkfloat being stolen and not too worried about it in comparison to the damage that the knife might do to me.

Repeat recoil a few times and then regroup for a wide shot of the next bit of action. This is my post recoil backward step to the edge of the milkfloat door at which point another actor rushes up, knocks me to the ground, pushes the knife man into the passenger seat and climbs into the driving seat.

Several knocks to the ground later we are ready to film me struggling to my feet, still holding my two bottles of milk, and watching the float being driven off. After several struggles the wide shot is done and we then do a few close-up takes of me getting to my feet and it's a wrap for the milkman.

After a warm and comfortable hour sitting in a car with a book while the principals do another scene we're all done. The milk float goes back to Berwick and I'm home by six o clock.

It was fun.