CITIZENS' Theatre star James Harkness reveals how an attack at the hands of a mad axeman shocked him into realizing he had to create a new life for himself in acting.

James, 26, recalls the life-changing moment which came about when he found himself trapped in a tower block elevator being hacked at by a man with an axe. His own axe.

"I was a teenager at the time," recalls the Gorbals-born actor.

"One day one of my cousins got into a bit of trouble and he was being beaten up by a couple of heavies.

"Now, I was never the violent type, anyone who knows me will swear to that, but that night I panicked and ran upstairs to my flat and grabbed an axe with the idea of defending my cousin.

"But it didn't work out that way. The guys beating up my cousin, turned on me and took the axe off me.

"The next thing I knew I was in the lift in a building being battered on the arms with my own axe."

The axeman and his sidekick were later jailed.

"I'd never picked up a weapon before that time, and I never picked one up again. And I've since realized if you carry a weapon there's a huge chance it will be used against you."

However, the very next day while lying in his hospital bed, James came to another realization. He resolved to take himself off into a very different world.

"I looked at all the scars on my arms, which I still have to this day, and decided I wanted to go into acting," he says.

"I'd done quite a bit of acting as a kid, going along to the local drama group in the Gorbals when I was ten.

"But I drifted away from it, going to work with my Uncle Arthur, doing all sorts of building work and garage jobs.

"However, this axe fight made me think I needed to do something different. And much as I loved the Gorbals and the people, I felt I needed a really different challenge."

In 2007, James took himself to the Citizens' Theatre where he joined the the Citizens' Young Company. And he made such an impression he was sponsored for a place at the National Theatre in London.

From there, he went on to study at London drama college, Lamda.

Now, James is back the Gorbals theatre in a new production of David Hare's The Absence of War.

The play is described as a 'funny, stinging political drama' and focuses on the fortunes of the Labour Party, telling of would-be Labour Prime Minister George Jones. (Reece Dinsdale).

James plays the candidate's minder. And he can't believe he's coming back to the Citizens'.

"My flat is just behind the building," he says, his voice emotional.

"I grew up here. "It's just too incredible. And the fact it's a political play is even better.

"You see, my mother is a right wee activist and we've both followed the fortunes of Labour in Glasgow and how it's all come apart.

"This is the right play at the right time, and I'm in it. And it's amazing."

He adds, in excited voice; "I just can't wait to get up there on that stage."

€¢ The Absence of War, the Citizens' Theatre, March 31 to April 4.