THIRSK actress Mhairi Calvey is no stranger to the limelight, having starred as a child in the epic Braveheart film, but she is now turning the spotlight onto the dark subject of domestic abuse with her first self-written film.

Scottish-born Ms Calvey was spotted by film scouts as a five-year-old at school and was cast as Murron MacClannough in Braveheart - the girl who grew up to capture the heart of Mel Gibson's William Wallace.

Since then, Ms Calvey, now 30, has appeared in several films and was recently reunited with her Braveheart co-star Angus MacFadyen when filming 'Robert The Bruce' where she played Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scotland.

She also landed a part originally intended for American Beauty star Thora Birch in the psychological thriller '3 Lives' which will be screened at film festivals later this year.

And although acting remains Ms Calvey's priority, she has turned her hand to writing and has penned a film about domestic abuse which she hopes to enter in the Short Film category at the Oscars.

She said that it is inspired by the experience of people she knows and she is using the film as a platform to highlight that not all abuse is physical.

She said: "It is going to be a short film but I would like to develop it into a feature film.

"It is about various different sorts of domestic abuse, emotional and financial as well as physical.

"I wanted to cover everything.

"I think while most people are aware of physical violence, they are not necessarily aware of the mental abuse and I wanted to really show the effects of that."

There is a film crew in place and filming is expected to take place over the summer.

And with the current publicity surrounding the abuse of women in Hollywood, Ms Calvey's film comes at a time when the issue is at the fore, but she said that did not play a part in her choosing to write about domestic abuse.

She was inspired by the likes of Reece Witherspoon's drama 'Big Little Lies' in which Nicole Kidman's character faces terrifying violence at the hands of her husband.

Ms Calvey said: "I was inspired by that, and the way it writes about women truthfully.

"But I also didn't want to write a film just about women being victims, obviously men can be also and I wanted to cover that too."

She added: "I have known quite a few people who have experienced it (domestic violence) and I went along to some group chats where people were in counselling.

"Some people were still in those relationships and some people had got out.

"Hearing about it made me want to do something about it.

"I think if enough people know as much as possible about the warning signs, they are less likely to enter into such destructive relationships."

But despite enjoying writing her first film, Ms Calvey's biggest passion remains with acting: "I would not give it up for anything, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I did," she said.