CAN'T TALK MUM..GOT AUTOGRAPHS TO SIGN; Lewis, 3, is Scots answer to kid star Macaulay Culkin.

Byline: JUDITH DUFFY EXCLUSIVE

THE BBC's latest star was met by autograph hunters when he flew into Glasgow Airport yesterday - even though he is only three.

Little Lewis Macdonald was dubbed Scotland's answer to Macaulay Culkin as he arrived from his home in Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

But the tot is taking the new-found fame in his stride.

He is already telling everyone he is going to be a film star and has mastered posing for photographers in his trendy sunglasses.

And, like most stars, his favourite gadget is his mobile phone - although Hollywood agents could find it difficult getting through on his parents' broken cast-off.

Lewis' star potential was spotted by producers of BBC Scotland's lavish new Gaelic drama Gruth Is Uachdar - which translates as Crowdie and Cream.

He was plucked from the playpen to play the young hero and author Finlay J MacDonald in the screen version of his trilogy after makers saw him on set while his parents posed as extras.

Mum Marion, 30, said yesterday: "I think he was born to it - he loves attention and has always been a bit of a show off.

"He is really enjoying it and now goes around saying to everyone he is going to be a film star.

"Someone even came up and jokingly asked for his autograph - and he was happy to oblige."

The BBC is spending pounds 1.5million making the series, a six-part Gaelic period drama.

It will be given a prime-time slot throughout the UK when it is screened with subtitles next spring.

The last Gaelic drama to hit our screens, Machair, was axed by Scottish TV because of poor ratings three years ago but optimistic producers have been filming throughout the summer in the Western Isles.

Young fan Lola Johnson, from Partick in Glasgow, couldn't resist asking Lewis for his autograph when he flew in to film scenes in a warehouse in Hillington.

As he portrays Finlay as a two-year-old, his role calls for more muck than glamour.

Housewife Marion said: "It's set in the 1930s, so the costumes are really quite plain as it is post-war.

"The children look very cute though, as they are dressed in cloth caps and shorts.

"But the only make-up Lewis has is dirt across his face - which he'd usually manage to get on himself by the end of the day anyway."

It is the first time Lewis has left the island since he was a baby.

He lives in quiet Deiraclete, Harris, with his older brother Angus, five, and his dad Lewis, who runs a fish farm.

But, like everything else, his proud mum says Lewis took his first time in the big city in his stride.

She said: "He really enjoyed the flight. He's also probably seen more cars here in an hour than he sees in a week on Harris, but it didn't bother him at all."