Chris Pine has described mastering the Scottish accent as "incredibly difficult" for his leading role in Outlaw King.

The Hollywood star admitted he found the dialect for his character Robert the Bruce a lot harder to perfect than he expected and hopes he won't be "picked apart" over his performance.

Speaking to STV News Pine, 38, said: "It was incredibly difficult.

"I thought I was going to have fared much more easily with it than I did.

"I had a great dialect coach with whom I worked before I left the States and then I got to Glasgow and was there with all the boys.

"I was around the music of the accent, I respond to the musicality of accents more than I do the phonetics of it, so I could kind of get the music in my mind."

He added: "I knew I was going to be picked apart for it and probably crucified by some people because there's a great sense of ownership by the Scots over their accent.

"So I figured as long as mine was there and you could tell that he was Scottish and you didn't worry about him trying to do full brogue then it was fine."

The actor joined stars of Outlaw King at the film's Scottish premiere in Edinburgh on Friday night.

The biopic, which was filmed in locations across the country, depicts the story of how Robert the Bruce led 500 men to defeat the larger and better equipped English army.

Pine was joined on the red carpet by actors James Cosmo, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Billy Howle, director David Mackenzie and producer Gillian Berrie.

Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland said: "We are enormously excited to see David Mackenzie's magnificent Outlaw King receive its Scottish premiere, before its Netflix release in 193 countries around the world. It's an epic achievement for David, producer Gillian Berrie and all involved, attesting to the ambition and talent of our filmmakers.

"Outlaw King's exploration of the life of Robert the Bruce will provide audiences around the world with a chance to engage with Scotland's rich history, and to fall in love with her breathtaking landscape.

"We're proud to have supported Outlaw King, a film that was born and raised in Scotland, from its early development through to production with funding from the National Lottery and Scottish Government through Creative Scotland."

Outlaw King is released on Netflix and in select cinemas on November 9.