Justin Zachary / The archive
A role. A mentor. A story that refused to let go.
Enter the story ↓The beginning
Justin Zachary’s history with Trainspotting spans decades. What began with Mark Renton became a creative lineage—bound to the late director Roger Mathey, tested across multiple productions, and now carried forward through PORNO.
One character · four chapters
Justin first steps into Mark Renton’s battered trainers—and into the role that would become a defining thread in his creative life.
The production returns, deepening a long collaboration with director and mentor Roger Mathey.
Justin revisits Renton again: older, sharper, and still searching for a way through.
The story moves forward. Justin directs and produces the planned U.S. premiere of Irvine Welsh’s sequel through Hypnotized Chickens Productions.
Personal essay
Scotland
/ Renton
/ Roger
/ PORNO
A personal piece about the country that gave Justin a defining role, a creative family, and a story he is still carrying forward.
Read the letter ↗“No Scotland, no story.
No PORNO, no party.
Slàinte.”
“A role he was
born to play.”
Xaque Gruber
The Huffington Post
The critical record
Only independently verified original clippings or surviving publisher pages are linked here. Reconstructed or generated archive pages have been removed.
Press chapter
Los Angeles Times · Diane Haithman
“The engaging Justin Zachary… narrates the tale with a humorous but heartbreaking combination of amorality and innocence.”
Back Stage West · Wenzel Jones
“Zachary gives an intriguing performance as the feckless lead, conveying the spirit of a nice kid who just happens to be a dissipated junkie.”
Ticket Holders · Travis Michael Holder
“As Mark, Zachary is amazing, part wide-eyed child and part future degenerate in the making.”
Review · T. H. McCulloh
“Zachary gives a fine, kinetic performance full of solid understanding of the text, and with a marvelous sense of rhythm and shading.”
LA Weekly · Miriam Jacobson
“Zachary’s achingly vulnerable protagonist… provides bemused narration, which both lightens the tragedy and facilitates the Scottish vernacular.”
IN Los Angeles Magazine · David Nichols
“If Zachary’s manically angelic Mark gives us highs and lows without the transitions between, his investment is absolute.”
Daily Breeze · Jim Farber
“It's an experience that is alternately horrific, painful, absurdly humorous, and ultimately cathartic...”
Willcall.org · Dave DePino
“This production is meticulously directed… to scream in your face. This is real.”
Addicted to the Edge · Jeff Favre
“Trainspotting… has become one of the most talked-about productions in the city.”
The Hollywood Reporter · Jay Reiner
“Zachary gives the alienated character a softer, less abrasive feel than McGregor did in the film, making it easier to sympathize with his predicament.”
Press chapter
BroadwayWorld
“Entertaining and shocking in equal measure.”
Stage and Cinema
“Justin Zachary is a theatrical force to be reckoned with.”
HuffPost
“A role he was born to play.”
Neon Tommy
“Zachary and his castmates are phenomenal.”
Backstage
“Justin Zachary reprises the part, and his performance makes the show.”
Blogcritics
“Zachary is clearly at home with Renton.”
Roger Mathey / Director & mentor
Roger Mathey helped shape Justin’s understanding of the stage, of Renton, and of what fearless theatre could be. The next chapter is a continuation of the standard they built together.
Next / 2027
Irvine Welsh’s sequel brings Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie back into one another’s orbit. Justin returns to this world as director and producer of the planned U.S. premiere.
Production inquiries