TORONTO - Acclaimed Scottish actor Robert Carlyle says his frustration with the British film industry is a big reason he's signed on to helm the new sci-fi show, "Stargate Universe," shooting in Vancouver.

The star of such cinematic favourites as "The Full Monty," "Trainspotting," and "Angela's Ashes" says it's getting more and more difficult to make the kind of smaller, independent, low-budget movies that he likes to make in the U.K.

"The finance of these films is getting tighter and tighter, restrictions are getting tighter and also the bigger problem is the distribution of these films after (they are made)," Carlyle said in a recent phone interview from Vancouver.

"They just don't have any kind of publicity budget, no kind of major distribution deals. They end up getting seen by about 25 people and I'm fed up with it."

"I thought, 'I want to do something different, I want to do something people want to see,' and this is why I'm here."

Carlyle leaps into the world of sci-fi with the latest series in the 15-year-old "Stargate" franchise. "Stargate Universe" follows a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians who are forced to travel through an otherworldly device known as a "stargate" when they come under attack. They emerge aboard the ancient ship Destiny, and find themselves locked on an unknown course through space, unable to return to Earth.

Carlyle stars as Dr. Nicholas Rush, a brilliant scientist whose motives are not what they appear to be, while Lou Diamond Phillips ("Young Guns," "La Bamba") plays fighter pilot Col. Telford. Ming-Na ("Two and a Half Men," "ER") is a citizen desperate to return to Earth, and Louis Ferreira ("Durham County," "24") plays military commander Col. Everett Young.

Though mostly known as a movie star, Carlyle notes he's had a lengthy relationship with series television back home, where he made a name for himself in "Cracker," and "Hamish Macbeth." More recently, he's popped up on television on this side of the pond with the TV movie, "Hitler: The Rise of Evil," and the Canadian miniseries "Human Trafficking."

But he says sci-fi was a genre he never imagined tackling.

"To be honest when it was first suggested to me I was in shock," Carlyle says of being approached to join the latest "Stargate" series, which began with the 1994 film, "Stargate," starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, and includes the Richard Dean Anderson spinoff, "Stargate SG-1" and most recently, "Stargate: Atlantis."

"It just wasn't (something) on the radar for me at all, anything like that and I was reluctant... But when I spoke with (the producers) the first thing I said to the guys was, `I'm flattered, I'm really flattered, but why do you want me to do this?' And the more we spoke about it, the more I realize why they were looking for someone like me -- because the tone had shifted, the tone had shifted in the franchise and it's an awful lot darker."

"There was a sense that they were getting feedback (from) all these blogs and stuff that the fans themselves were maybe looking for something a wee bit more cerebral. And they're certainly going to get it with (this)."

Ferreira says Carlyle's reputation alone brought a seriousness to the production.

"His calibre of acting sets a tone for the entire show," said Ferreira, who for the first time will be credited with his birth name after 25 years under the stage name Justin Louis.

"It's a force that (makes) the rest of us sort of step up our game, or at least be very much in tune with everything going on. And he's beyond generous. It's not only that he's there, it's that he wants to make it the best show possible."

It's hoped that the added star power would help expand the show's viewership beyond just a niche audience, Ferreira adds.

"It's essentially a serial drama set with a space backdrop and I think the storyline, which is continuous, is one that people will be really intrigued (by) hopefully and I think really impressed."

In Vancouver since February, Carlyle says the intense shooting schedule will keep him in Canada until November. After that, he says he's looking forward to a break but is dogged by lingering talk of a "Trainspotting" sequel.

Carlyle notes that director Danny Boyle has expressed interest in adapting Irvine Welsh's 2003 followup to "Trainspotting," entitled "Porno." Carlyle says it may be time to revisit Welsh's band of drug-addled anti-heroes roughly 15 years later.

"He'd always sort of said that none of us were old enough, well thanks very much Danny," jokes Carlyle, who played the psychotic Begbie.

"I'm certainly old enough now, 48.... I think he was waiting for maybe the right time to do it and I kind of thought at one point that maybe it was going to go away. I don't think that will ever happen, but then obviously Danny just won the Oscar so he's a hot potato. I guess if he's still interested in doing it then now's the time."

"Porno" revolves around a cash-strapped Sick Boy and his seedy scheme to make porn films. Begbie is locked away in prison and Carlyle says he's already got his favourite scene mapped out in his head -- one where Begbie recieves a stack of gay porn in the mail from Sick Boy and unleashes a torrent of swears.

"I would pay to see myself do that," Carlyle says enthusiastically. "I think it's worth making it just to do that scene alone." "Stargate Universe" begins Friday on Space. It will be followed by Space's new flagship show "Innerspace," featuring on-set footage of "Stargate Universe" and interviews with the stars of the show.