Ewan McGregor
Biography
Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents encouraged him to leave school and pursue his acting goals rather than be unhappy. McGregor studied drama for a year at Kirkcaldly in Fife, then enrolled at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama for a three-year course. He studied alongside Daniel Craig and Alistair McGowan, among others, and left right before graduating after snagging the role of Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter's six-part Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993). His first notable role was that of Alex Law in Shallow Grave (1994), directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge and produced by Andrew Macdonald. This was followed by The Pillow Book (1996) and Trainspotting (1996), the latter of which brought him to the public's attention.
He is now one of the most critically acclaimed actors of his generation, and portrays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three Star Wars episodes. McGregor is married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis, whom he met while working on the television series Kavanagh QC (1995). They married in France in the summer of 1995, and have four daughters. McGregor formed a production company, with friends Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Damon Bryant, Bradley Adams and Geoff Deehan, called "Natural Nylon", and hoped it would make innovative films that do not conform to Hollywood standards. McGregor and Bryant left the company in 2002. He was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama and charity.
Family
(22 July 1995 - present) ( 4 children)
Trivia
Former roommate of Jude Law. They are still close friends.
Ranked #36 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Nephew of Denis Lawson.
Born at 3:45pm-CET
He met his ex-wife, Eve Mavrakis, while filming for Kavanagh QC (1995).
Was originally up for the lead role in The Beach (2000), which would have reunited him with director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge who collaborated with McGregor on Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996) and A Life Less Ordinary (1997). The role ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio. While McGregor blamed studio influence for the casting decision, he did not speak to either Boyle nor Hodge for years afterwards, commenting in an interview that he felt betrayed and the friendship was over. McGregor said that they bumped into each other several times during that period, which led to a very awkward moment where both he, his wife and Boyle ended up in first class on the same flight, and didn't talk to each other for the entire duration of the trip. However, McGregor and Boyle finally made amends in 2009, when McGregor presented Boyle an award for Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle has since apologized for how he treated McGregor, admitting that he mishandled the situation; McGregor has stated he has changed his opinion about the whole matter, and has moved on, now regretting all the films they did not make together.
Personal Quotes
Actually, I really want to play Princess Leia. Stick some big pastries on my head. Now, that would be interesting.
I'm doing my bit for the women's movement. The women have always been naked in movies and now I'm just desperate to take my clothes off as much as possible.
I've been waiting nearly twenty years to have my own lightsaber. Nothing's cooler than being a Jedi Knight.
Isn't Halle Berry the most beautiful woman? I have a film I'd like to be in her with. I mean, I'd like to be with her in" - At the 2002 Golden Globe Awards commenting to Melissa Rivers on Halle Berry, who just walked by.
It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing.
I won't buy into the Hollywood thing... I want to be in good movies.
I was with a friend of mine recently who was dying and while he was lying there with his family around his bed, I just knew that was it, that was the best you can hope for in life - to have your family and the people who love you around you at the end.
I fight cynicism. It's too easy. It's really boring. It's much harder to be positive and see the wonder of everything. Cynicism is a bunch of people who aren't as talented as other people, knocking them because they make them feel even more untalented.
[My fans] say, "I've seen Star Wars and Moulin Rouge! What else should we try to see you in?". I always tell 'em to get The Pillow Book (1996). That would be a bit of an eye-opener for them, wouldn't it?
My uncle would appear back from London, where he lived in the 70s, in sheepskin waistcoats and beads and no shoes. As an actor he had something about him that I liked and wanted to have. So that's one element: to be like my uncle, to be different.
My brother is two years older than me and he was brilliant at everything, it seemed. He was captain of the cricket and rugby teams. We had this rather archaic system of head boys and prefects at my school. I was in my fourth year - in Scotland we finish school in our sixth year - and my brother had become head boy and brilliant at everything: academia, sports. In fact, all the things I wasn't good at. Then he left and I couldn't get my head round anything, so I became depressed and got in trouble a lot. I remember my mother driving me one night through heavy rain, with the windscreen wipers going. It was the first half term of my fifth year and she said that she'd spoken to my dad and that I could leave school if I wanted to. I'd only assumed that I'd have to stick it out until I was 18, but here I was being offered the chance to leave at 16. My whole world opened up. I couldn't believe it. And I was out, as soon as she said those words.
