Ewan McGregor

Biography

Early career

McGregor was born in Crieff, Scotland, and attended Kirkcaldy College in 1988 to study drama, appearing in the Tron Theatre in Glasgow in the end of term show. Six months before graduating, he won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part BBC series "Lipstick on Your Collar," and has been working steadily ever since. He made his feature film debut in 1993 in Bill Forsyth's Being Human." The following year, he earned widespread praise and won an Empire Award for his performance in the thriller Shallow Grave, which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle his major international breakthrough soon followed with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's film version of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (1996).

Leading man

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. He received excellent reviews for his performance as an amoral drifter mixed up in murder in the rather bleak British film Young Adam (2003), which co-starred the acclaimed British actress Tilda Swinton.

He took on the role of a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars films. McGregor took very special care (especially Episode III) of his portrayal of Kenobi to ensure that Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings, and accents closely resemble Obi-Wan's "Sir Guinness Self" . During filming of the prequel trilogy, George Lucas would often approach McGregor's stunt double, only to turn away when he realized he was not talking to the true actor. McGregor has been rumoured to be appearing as Obi-Wan in some episodes of the live Star Wars TV show.

Beginning with Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book in 1996, McGregor has also played gay or bisexual characters for Todd Haynes in Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Ed Blum in Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006). McGregor is one of the few major male actors to repeatedly do full-frontal nudity (i.e., Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book, and Young Adam). Along with his nonchalant attitude to on-screen, full-frontal nudity, his approach to sexuality has deservedly won the married father something of the status of gay icon.

In 2005, the actor lent his vocal talent to two successful animated features. McGregor provided the voice of the lovable robot "Rodney Copperbottom" in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams. He then voiced the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant alongside Jim Broadbent and John Cleese.

Also in 2005, among other actors he was rumoured to be thought of as the new James Bond by the producers of the new Bond film, Casino Royale. In late 2005 however, it was confirmed the role went to Daniel Craig.

Additionally in 2005, McGregor played the lead - as well as his "owner" - 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. Both films, though interesting choices, were considered box office flops in America and received negative reviews from critics.

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.

In theatre, he starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the movie, to much critical acclaim, and he received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor in 2005. He was also nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

McGregor is next set to appear opposite Irish star Colin Farrell in Cassandra's Dream and will co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris's upcoming film of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer.

On the road

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, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Canada on BMW R1150GS Aventure motorcycles, for a cumulative distance of 18,887 miles (30,395 km). The trip formed the basis of a TV series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round. En route the Long Way Round team took time out to see some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

McGregor is planning a second long-distance motorbike trip from John O'Groats in northern Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa in 2007 and hopes to visit UNICEF projects along the way. He became a UN Ambassador in 2004 and has visited various UNICEF projects, including schemes helping children and families with AIDS in Africa.

Family life

On July 22, 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. They have two daughters together, Clara Mathilde (b. February 1996) and Esther Rose (b. November 2001). In April 2006 McGregor and his wife adopted a 4-year-old girl from Mongolia. He is fiercely protective of his daughters' privacy and refuses to allow them to be filmed or photographed. He has threatened legal action against the paparazzi for going against his wishes.

They currently reside in North London.

Filmography

Discography