Ewan Gordon McGregor (born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor who has had success in mainstream, indie and art house films. He is perhaps best known for his role as Mark Renton in the 1996 film Trainspotting, his portrayal of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and his role as the romantic penniless writer Christian in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!
In 2009, he appeared in the films I Love You Phillip Morris and Amelia, and portrayed the Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in the film adaption of Angels & Demons. Aside from his film work, McGregor has starred in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls. He also appeared in television series such as The Scarlet and the Black, Lipstick On Your Collar, Tales from the Crypt, and ER. He was ranked No. 36 in Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.[1]
Away from the big screen he is known for his love of motorcycles, especially Moto Guzzi. He also did two projects with long time friend Charley Boorman, where they rode BMW around the world in Long Way Round, and from John o' Groats to Cape Agulhas in Long Way Down.
Early life
McGregor was born in the Perth Royal Infirmary, was brought up in the nearby small town of Crieff, and went to the independent fee-paying school Morrison's Academy. His mother, Carol Diane (née Lawson), is a teacher and school administrator, and his father, James Charles Stuart McGregor, is a physical education teacher.[2][3] His mother is the sister of actor Denis Lawson,[4] the sister-in-law of the late actress Sheila Gish, and the step-aunt of the late Lou Gish. McGregor attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1988 to study drama.[4] Six months before graduating, he won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part BBC series Lipstick on Your Collar,[4] and has been working steadily ever since.
Career
Film
McGregor made his feature film debut in 1993 in Bill Forsyth's Being Human.[5] The following year, he earned widespread praise and won an Empire Award for his performance in the thriller Shallow Grave,[6] which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle.[4] His major international breakthrough soon followed with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's film version of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.[4][5]
McGregor has been featured as the male romantic lead in Hollywood films such as Moulin Rouge! and Down With Love, and in the British film Little Voice.[4][7] He received excellent reviews for his performance as an amoral drifter mixed up in murder in the Scottish film Young Adam (2003), which co-starred the acclaimed Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.[8][9] McGregor was offered the lead role as James Bond in the 2006 reboot Casino Royale but he turned it down because he feared becoming typecast.[10]
McGregor is one of the few major male actors to repeatedly do full-frontal nudity in many of his films, including Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book, and Young Adam.[11] He also played gay and bisexual characters in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine,[11] and now recently in the new film with Jim Carrey, I Love You Phillip Morris.
In 2005, McGregor lent his voice to two successful animated features; the robot Rodney Copperbottom in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams;[12] and the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant, alongside Jim Broadbent, John Cleese and Ricky Gervais.[13] Additionally in 2005, McGregor played two roles (one a clone of the other) opposite Scarlett Johansson in Michael Bay's The Island and then appeared in Marc Forster's Stay, a psychological thriller co-starring Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.[14][15]
McGregor has narrated the STV show JetSet, a Scottish series following the lives of student pilots and navigators at RAF Lossiemouth as they undergo a gruelling six-month course learning to fly the Tornado GR4—the RAF's primary attack aircraft.[16]
McGregor appears opposite Colin Farrell in Cassandra's Dream,[5][17] and will co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris' upcoming film adaptation of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer.[18] He also appeared in 2003's "Big Fish" and alongside Jim Carrey in 2009's I Love You Phillip Morris.
Star Wars
In 1999, McGregor starred in the blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace as Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy.[4] He reprised his role for the subsequent prequels Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). McGregor took very special care (especially in Revenge of the Sith) in his portrayal to ensure that Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings, and accents closely resemble Obi-Wan's "Alec Guinness Self".[19] In appearing in the Star Wars films, he was continuing a family tradition of sorts: his uncle, Denis Lawson, had played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy.[20]
Theatre
McGregor starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge, and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls[21] in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the film, and he received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor in 2005.[22] He was also nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.[23]
From December 2007 to February 2008, he starred as Iago in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona,[24][25] a role he reprised on BBC Radio 3 in May 2008.[24]
Personal life
McGregor at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
On 22 July 1995, in a village in France, McGregor married Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer, whom he met while filming a guest appearance on the British television series Kavanagh QC.[4] They have two daughters together, Clara Mathilde (born February 1996) and Esther Rose (born 7 November 2001), and McGregor has a Heart and Dagger tattoo of their names on his right arm.[4][7][26] In April 2006, McGregor and his wife adopted Jamiyan, a four-year-old girl from Mongolia (born June 2001).[27] McGregor refuses to talk about his family in interviews; "because it's private."[28] During the "fly-on-the-wall" filming of preparation for the Long Way Round and Long Way Down journeys, McGregor went to great lengths to keep his children — and information that could reveal the location of his home — away from the cameras. Unlike travelling companion Charley Boorman, whose daughters often appeared in front of the cameras, McGregor did not have his children present at the send-off or other filmed parts of either adventure, but they were filmed at the end when his family greeted him at the end of the journey.[28] Having lived in London for some time, in 2008 the family relocated their main base to their home in Los Angeles, while retaining their home in London.
A keen motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon motorcycle trip with his friend Charley Boorman and cameraman Claudio von Planta in 2004. From mid-April to the end of July, they travelled from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Russia (including Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Canada on BMW R1150GS Adventure motorcycles, for a cumulative distance of 22,345 miles (35,960 km).[29] The trip formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.[30] En route the Long Way Round team took time out to see some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.[30] The Long Way Round team reunited in 2007 for another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.[30] The journey, entitled Long Way Down lasted from 12 May until 5 August 2007.[30]
McGregor's brother, Colin, is a Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force.[31] Colin joined the motorcycle team during the early stages of the Long Way Down journey.[30][31] His father Jim McGregor also rode on sections of both Long Way Round and Long Way Down, while his mother Carol surprised him in the latter stages of his African journey, serving him a can of Coca-Cola at a lodge in Malawi.[32][33]
In an episode of Parkinson in 2007, McGregor said that he has given up alcohol after a period where he was arguably a functioning alcoholic, and that he has not had a drink in seven years.[34] In 2008, he had a cancerous mole removed from underneath his right eye.[35]
In 2009, he appeared in the films I Love You Phillip Morris and Amelia, and portrayed the Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in the film adaption of Angels & Demons. Aside from his film work, McGregor has starred in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls. He also appeared in television series such as The Scarlet and the Black, Lipstick On Your Collar, Tales from the Crypt, and ER. He was ranked No. 36 in Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.[1]
Away from the big screen he is known for his love of motorcycles, especially Moto Guzzi. He also did two projects with long time friend Charley Boorman, where they rode BMW around the world in Long Way Round, and from John o' Groats to Cape Agulhas in Long Way Down.
Early life
McGregor was born in the Perth Royal Infirmary, was brought up in the nearby small town of Crieff, and went to the independent fee-paying school Morrison's Academy. His mother, Carol Diane (née Lawson), is a teacher and school administrator, and his father, James Charles Stuart McGregor, is a physical education teacher.[2][3] His mother is the sister of actor Denis Lawson,[4] the sister-in-law of the late actress Sheila Gish, and the step-aunt of the late Lou Gish. McGregor attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1988 to study drama.[4] Six months before graduating, he won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part BBC series Lipstick on Your Collar,[4] and has been working steadily ever since.
Career
Film
McGregor made his feature film debut in 1993 in Bill Forsyth's Being Human.[5] The following year, he earned widespread praise and won an Empire Award for his performance in the thriller Shallow Grave,[6] which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle.[4] His major international breakthrough soon followed with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's film version of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.[4][5]
McGregor has been featured as the male romantic lead in Hollywood films such as Moulin Rouge! and Down With Love, and in the British film Little Voice.[4][7] He received excellent reviews for his performance as an amoral drifter mixed up in murder in the Scottish film Young Adam (2003), which co-starred the acclaimed Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.[8][9] McGregor was offered the lead role as James Bond in the 2006 reboot Casino Royale but he turned it down because he feared becoming typecast.[10]
McGregor is one of the few major male actors to repeatedly do full-frontal nudity in many of his films, including Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book, and Young Adam.[11] He also played gay and bisexual characters in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine,[11] and now recently in the new film with Jim Carrey, I Love You Phillip Morris.
In 2005, McGregor lent his voice to two successful animated features; the robot Rodney Copperbottom in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams;[12] and the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant, alongside Jim Broadbent, John Cleese and Ricky Gervais.[13] Additionally in 2005, McGregor played two roles (one a clone of the other) opposite Scarlett Johansson in Michael Bay's The Island and then appeared in Marc Forster's Stay, a psychological thriller co-starring Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.[14][15]
McGregor has narrated the STV show JetSet, a Scottish series following the lives of student pilots and navigators at RAF Lossiemouth as they undergo a gruelling six-month course learning to fly the Tornado GR4—the RAF's primary attack aircraft.[16]
McGregor appears opposite Colin Farrell in Cassandra's Dream,[5][17] and will co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris' upcoming film adaptation of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer.[18] He also appeared in 2003's "Big Fish" and alongside Jim Carrey in 2009's I Love You Phillip Morris.
Star Wars
In 1999, McGregor starred in the blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace as Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy.[4] He reprised his role for the subsequent prequels Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). McGregor took very special care (especially in Revenge of the Sith) in his portrayal to ensure that Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings, and accents closely resemble Obi-Wan's "Alec Guinness Self".[19] In appearing in the Star Wars films, he was continuing a family tradition of sorts: his uncle, Denis Lawson, had played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy.[20]
Theatre
McGregor starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge, and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls[21] in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the film, and he received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor in 2005.[22] He was also nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.[23]
From December 2007 to February 2008, he starred as Iago in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona,[24][25] a role he reprised on BBC Radio 3 in May 2008.[24]
Personal life
McGregor at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
On 22 July 1995, in a village in France, McGregor married Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer, whom he met while filming a guest appearance on the British television series Kavanagh QC.[4] They have two daughters together, Clara Mathilde (born February 1996) and Esther Rose (born 7 November 2001), and McGregor has a Heart and Dagger tattoo of their names on his right arm.[4][7][26] In April 2006, McGregor and his wife adopted Jamiyan, a four-year-old girl from Mongolia (born June 2001).[27] McGregor refuses to talk about his family in interviews; "because it's private."[28] During the "fly-on-the-wall" filming of preparation for the Long Way Round and Long Way Down journeys, McGregor went to great lengths to keep his children — and information that could reveal the location of his home — away from the cameras. Unlike travelling companion Charley Boorman, whose daughters often appeared in front of the cameras, McGregor did not have his children present at the send-off or other filmed parts of either adventure, but they were filmed at the end when his family greeted him at the end of the journey.[28] Having lived in London for some time, in 2008 the family relocated their main base to their home in Los Angeles, while retaining their home in London.
A keen motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon motorcycle trip with his friend Charley Boorman and cameraman Claudio von Planta in 2004. From mid-April to the end of July, they travelled from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Russia (including Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Canada on BMW R1150GS Adventure motorcycles, for a cumulative distance of 22,345 miles (35,960 km).[29] The trip formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.[30] En route the Long Way Round team took time out to see some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.[30] The Long Way Round team reunited in 2007 for another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.[30] The journey, entitled Long Way Down lasted from 12 May until 5 August 2007.[30]
McGregor's brother, Colin, is a Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force.[31] Colin joined the motorcycle team during the early stages of the Long Way Down journey.[30][31] His father Jim McGregor also rode on sections of both Long Way Round and Long Way Down, while his mother Carol surprised him in the latter stages of his African journey, serving him a can of Coca-Cola at a lodge in Malawi.[32][33]
In an episode of Parkinson in 2007, McGregor said that he has given up alcohol after a period where he was arguably a functioning alcoholic, and that he has not had a drink in seven years.[34] In 2008, he had a cancerous mole removed from underneath his right eye.[35]