Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor
OBE

McGregor in 2012
Born Ewan Gordon McGregor[1]
(1971-03-31) 31 March 1971[1]
Perth, Perthshire, Scotland[2][3][4]
Nationality Scottish
Citizenship British
Occupation Actor
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s) Eve Mavrakis (m. 1995)[1]
Children 4[1]
Relatives Denis Lawson (uncle)
Awards OBE (2013)[1]

Ewan Gordon McGregor, OBE (/ˌjuːən məˈɡrɛɡər/; born 31 March 1971)[1] is a Scottish actor. His first professional role was in 1993, when he won a leading role in the Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar.[5] He is best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting (1996), the young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005), poet Christian in the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001), and Dr. Alfred Jones in the romantic comedy-drama Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011).

He received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for both Moulin Rouge! and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. McGregor has also starred in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls (2005–07) and Othello (2007–08). He was ranked No. 36 on Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in 1997.[6] In 2010 he won Best Actor for playing the title role in Roman Polanski's film The Ghost Writer at the 23rd European Film Awards.[7]

Early life

McGregor was born in Perth, Scotland and brought up in Crieff.[2][3][4] His mother, Carol Diane (née Lawson), is a retired teacher of Crieff High School and latterly deputy head teacher of Kingspark School in Dundee.[8][9] His father, James Charles Stewart "Jim" McGregor, is a retired physical education teacher and careers master of Morrison's Academy, Crieff.[10][11][12] He has an older brother, Colin (b. 1966), who is a former Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force.[13] He is the nephew of actor Denis Lawson (who also appeared in films in the Star Wars franchise) and actress Sheila Gish, and the step-cousin of actress Lou Gish on his mother's side of the family.[5] McGregor attended the independent Morrison's Academy in Crieff. After leaving school, at the age of 16, he worked as a stagehand at Perth Repertory Theatre and studied a foundation course in drama at Kirkcaldy College of Technology,[14][15] before moving to London to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama when he was 18 years old.[5]

Career

Film and television

McGregor at the premiere of The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009

In 1993, six months prior to his graduation from Guildhall, McGregor won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar.[5] The same year, he starred in the BBC adaptation of Scarlet and Black with a young Rachel Weisz, and made his film debut in Bill Forsyth's Being Human.[16] In 1994, McGregor performed in the thriller Shallow Grave, for which he won an Empire Award,[17] and which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle.[5] His international breakthrough followed in 1996 with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's Trainspotting, an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name.[5][16]

McGregor played the male romantic lead role in the 1998 British film Little Voice. In 1999, McGregor starred in the blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy.[5] His uncle, Denis Lawson, had played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy.[18] In 2001, he starred in Moulin Rouge! as the young poet Christian, who falls in love with the terminally-ill courtesan Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. McGregor reprised his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the subsequent prequel Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002. In 2003, he starred alongside Renée Zellweger in Down With Love.[5][19] He also portrayed the younger Edward Bloom in the critically acclaimed film Big Fish alongside Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman and Billy Crudup. During that year, he also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of an amoral drifter mixed up with murder in the drama Young Adam, which co-starred Tilda Swinton.[20][21]

In 2005, McGregor appeared for the final time as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He took very special care—especially in Revenge of the Sith—to ensure that his portrayal of Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings and accents closely resembled Alec Guinness' version.[22] That same year, McGregor voiced two successful animated features; he played the robot Rodney Copperbottom in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams,[23] and he voiced the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant, alongside Jim Broadbent, John Cleese and Ricky Gervais.[24] Also in 2005, McGregor played two roles—one a clone of the other—opposite Scarlett Johansson in Michael Bay's science fiction action thriller film The Island. He also headlined Marc Forster's 2005 film Stay, a psychological thriller co-starring Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.[25][26]

In 2006, he narrated the Fulldome production Astronaut, created for the National Space Centre.[27] That same year, he also narrated the STV show JetSet, a six-part series following the lives of trainee 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.[28] In 2007, McGregor starred opposite Colin Farrell in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream.[16][29] In 2009, he co-starred with Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris and appeared in Amelia alongside Hilary Swank. Also in 2009, he portrayed Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in Angels & Demons, the film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name. McGregor is scheduled to co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris' upcoming film adaptation of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer.[30] At the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, he was awarded with the SIFF Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting.[31]

In 2012, he was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[32] At the San Sebastián International Film Festival, he was awarded the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award and became the youngest recipient of the award.[33]

In 2015, he starred in the film Mortdecai,[34] alongside Johnny Depp, Olivia Munn, and Paul Bettany.

On 21 April 2015, it was announced that McGregor would play Lumiere in the live-action version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon. He joins a cast that includes Emma Watson (Belle), Dan Stevens (Beast/Prince), Luke Evans (Gaston), Josh Gad (Lefou), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Kevin Kline (Maurice) and Audra McDonald (Garderobe). Filming began in May 2015 at Shepperton Studios in London. The film is scheduled to be released in March 2017.[35]

Theatre

From November 1998 to March 1999, McGregor starred as Malcolm Scrawdyke in a production of David Halliwell's Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs, directed by his uncle, Denis Lawson. The play was first staged at the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End.[36] In November 2001, McGregor made a cameo appearance in The Play What I Wrote.[37]

From June 2005 to April 2007, McGregor starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.[38] He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the film of the same name. McGregor received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor for his performance in 2005,[39] and he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2007.[40]

From December 2007 to February 2008, McGregor starred as Iago in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona.[41][42] He reprised the role on BBC Radio 3 in May 2008.[41]

Motorbike journeys

A motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon international motorbike trip with his best 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, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Canada and the United States on BMW R1150GS Adventure motorbikes, for a cumulative distance of 22,345 miles (35,960 km).[43] The trip included visits to several UNICEF programs along the route, and formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.[44]

The Long Way Round team reunited in 2007 for another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.[44] The journey, entitled Long Way Down, lasted from 12 May until 5 August 2007.[44] McGregor's brother Colin joined the motorcycle team during the early stages of the Long Way Down journey,[44] and his father Jim also rode on sections of both Long Way Round and Long Way Down.[45][46]

McGregor appeared in a two-part BBC documentary in April 2012 entitled Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission in which he travels by motorbike, boat, plane and foot to deliver vaccines to children in remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo. The trip was part of his work as a UNICEF Ambassador.

In a June 2015 interview, McGregor indicated that a long discussed South American trip with Boorman was still in the planning stages, but he expected that an excursion through Baja California Peninsula would take place first.[47]

Personal life

McGregor has been married since 1995 to Eve Mavrakis,[1] a French production designer, whom he met on the set of Kavanagh QC.[5] They have four daughters:[1] Clara Mathilde McGregor (b. 1996), Esther Rose McGregor (b. 2001), Jamyan McGregor (b. 2001),[48] and Anouk McGregor (b. 2011). In 2006, McGregor and his wife adopted Jamyan from Mongolia, where he spent time during the Long Way Round journey in 2004.[49][50] McGregor has a heart and dagger tattoo of the names of his wife and daughters on his right arm.[19][51] The family currently resides in Los Angeles, California after moving from London.[52]

McGregor is involved in charity work, including with UNICEF and GO Campaign. During the Long Way Round journey in 2004, McGregor and his travelling companions saw some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia,[44] and during the Long Way Down trip in 2007, he and Charley Boorman did work for UNICEF in Africa. McGregor hosted the annual Hollywood gala for GO Campaign in 2009 and 2010. He has also worked with the Children's Hospice Association Scotland, as featured in Long Way Down. In 2012, McGregor travelled with UNICEF immunisation workers to remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo for a BBC2 documentary entitled Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission.

In June 2015, McGregor read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" for the children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with Sir Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine and David Walliams.[45][53]

In 2007, on an episode of Parkinson, McGregor stated that he had given up alcohol after a period where he was arguably a functioning alcoholic, and that he had not had a drink in seven years.[54] In 2008, he had a cancerous mole removed from underneath his right eye.[55]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Being Human Alvarez
1994 Shallow Grave Alex Law
1995 Blue Juice Dean Raymond
1996 Trainspotting Mark Renton
1996 Pillow Book, TheThe Pillow Book Jerome
1996 Emma Frank Churchill
1996 Brassed Off Andy Barrow
1997 Nightwatch Martin Bells
1997 Serpent's Kiss, TheThe Serpent's Kiss Meneer Chrome
1997 Life Less Ordinary, AA Life Less Ordinary Robert Lewis
1998 Velvet Goldmine Curt Wild
1998 Little Voice Billy
1999 Desserts Stroller Short film
1999 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Obi-Wan Kenobi
1999 Rogue Trader Nick Leeson
1999 Eye of the Beholder Stephen Wilson/The Eye
2000 Nora James Joyce
2001 Moulin Rouge! Christian
2001 Black Hawk Down SPC John Grimes
2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Obi-Wan Kenobi
2002 Solid Geometry Phil
2003 Down with Love Catcher Block
2003 Young Adam Joe Taylor
2003 Faster Narrator Voice
2003 Big Fish Edward Bloom (young)
2005 Robots Rodney Copperbottom Voice
2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan Kenobi
2005 Valiant Valiant Voice
2005 Island, TheThe Island Lincoln Six Echo/Tom Lincoln
2005 Stay Dr. Sam Foster
2006 Stormbreaker Ian Rider
2006 Scenes of a Sexual Nature Billy
2006 Miss Potter Norman Warne
2007 Cassandra's Dream Ian Blane
2008 Incendiary Jasper Black
2008 Deception Jonathan McQuarry
2009 Angels & Demons Camerlengo Patrick McKenna
2009 I Love You Phillip Morris Phillip Morris
2009 Men Who Stare at Goats, TheThe Men Who Stare at Goats Bob Wilton
2009 Amelia Gene Vidal
2010 Ghost Writer, TheThe Ghost Writer The Ghost Writer
2010 Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Rory Green Cameo
2010 Jackboots on Whitehall Chris Voice
2010 Beginners Oliver Fields
2011 Perfect Sense Michael
2011 Fastest Narrator Voice
2011 Haywire Kenneth
2012 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Dr. Alfred Jones
2012 Impossible, TheThe Impossible Henry Bennett
2013 Jack the Giant Slayer Elmont
2013 August: Osage County Bill Fordham
2014 A Million Ways to Die in the West Cowboy at Fair Cameo
2014 Son of a Gun Brendan Lynch
2015 Mortdecai Inspector Alistair Martland
2015 Last Days in the Desert Jesus / Satan
2015 Miles Ahead Dave Brill
2015 Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Obi-Wan Kenobi Voice cameo[56]
2016 Jane Got a Gun John Bishop
2016 Our Kind of Traitor Peregrine "Perry" Makepeace Post-production
2016 American Pastoral Seymour "Swede" Levov Filming, also director
2017 Beauty and the Beast Lumière Post-production
2017 Trainspotting 2 Mark Renton Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Lipstick on Your Collar PTE Mick Hopper 6 episodes
1993 Scarlet and Black Julien Sorel Mini-series
1995 Kavanagh QC David Robert Armstrong Episode: "Nothing But the Truth"
1996 Karaoke Young Man Episode: "Tuesday"
1996 Tales from the Crypt Ford Episode: "Cold War"
1997 ER Duncan Stewart Episode: "The Long Way Around"
2002 Polar Bears of Churchill with Ewan McGregor, TheThe Polar Bears of Churchill with Ewan McGregor Himself Documentary series
2004 Long Way Round Himself Documentary series
2007 Long Way Down Himself Documentary series
2010 Battle of Britain, TheThe Battle of Britain Himself Documentary
2012 Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission Himself Documentary
2012 Bomber Boys Himself Documentary
2013 Corrections, TheThe Corrections Chip Lambert Unaired pilot
2013 Hebrides: Islands on the Edge Himself (voice) Documentary series

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014 The Real Thing Henry American Airlines Theatre [57]

Awards and nominations

McGregor was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.[1][58][59]

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McGREGOR, Ewan Gordon. Who's Who 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 "Ewan McGregor on His Career and 'The Impossible'". youtube.com. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Ewan McGregor 1971". pkc.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Starring role for actor's mother Maternity unit closure puts Mrs McGregor in front of the spotlight". heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Profile – Ewan McGregor". Hello!. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "Empire Magazine's Top 100 Movie Stars 1997". amiannoying.com. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Brooks, Xan (5 December 2010). "Roman Polanski film The Ghost Writer dominates European awards". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Obi-Wan Kenobi's mum". theguardian.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Carol McGregor: Malawi Diaries". scotsman.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Morrisonian Club". morrisonsacademy.org. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Ewan McGregor biography". tiscali.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  12. ↑ "Ewan McGregor Biography (1971–)". filmreference.com. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  13. ↑ Barratt, Nick (11 November 2006). "Family Detective". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  14. ↑ "The Guardian profile: Ewan McGregor". theguardian.com. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Perth Theatre, past and present...". horsecross.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 "Hello Magazine Filmography – Ewan McGregor". Hello Magazine. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  17. ↑ "Empire Awards, UK: 1996". IMDB.com. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  18. ↑ Star Wars Trilogy (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2004.
  19. 1 2 "Ewan McGregor Biography". Yahoo!. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  20. ↑ Slater, Matthew (9 October 2003). "Young Adam's dark tale". BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  21. ↑ Dawtrey, Adam (21 September 2003). "Thomas' distrib misstep". Variety. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  22. ↑ Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Web Documentaries of Revenge of the Sith DVD (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2005.
  23. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (11 March 2005). "It's a bucket of bolts that rattles agreeably. Robots mingles brass, laughs and, yes, Robin Williams". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  24. ↑ Holden, Stephen (19 August 2005). "Thse Brave Pigeons Are Doing Their Part for the War". New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  25. ↑ Clinton, Paul (22 July 2005). "'Island' just interesting enough". CNN. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  26. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (21 October 2005). "Something Is Happening, but Who Knows What It Is?". New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  27. ↑ "Astronaut with Ewan McGregor". 14 July 2006. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  28. ↑ "Ground School". STV. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
  29. ↑ Moore, Roger (29 January 2008). ""Dream" gives wakeup call to Woody Allen". Denver Post. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  30. ↑ "I, Lucifer (2009)". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  31. ↑ "2011 Golden Space Award for Outstanding Achieveent in Acting". Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  32. ↑ "The Jury of the 65th Festival de Cannes". festival-cannes.com. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  33. ↑ "2012 Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award". BBC News. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  34. ↑ "Hedsor House used in the film Mortdecai (2015)". Hedsor House. 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  35. ↑ "Ewan McGregor to Play Lumiere in 'Beauty and the Beast' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  36. ↑ "McGregor play opens in West End". BBC News. 22 January 1999. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  37. ↑ Wolf, Matt (25 November 2001). "V Legit Reviews: The Play What I Wrote". Variety. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  38. ↑ "Guys and Dolls musical". Guys and Dolls the Musical. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  39. ↑ Singh, Anita (25 October 2005). "McGregor wins theatre award". The Scotsman (Edinburgh).
  40. ↑ "The nominees and winners of the 2006 Laurence Olivier Awards". The Society of London Theatre. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  41. 1 2 "Ewan McGregor returns to London stage for minimum wage". International Herald Tribune. 12 May 2007. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008.
  42. ↑ "Ewan McGregor to Play Iago in Othello at London's Donmar". Broadway.com. 11 May 2007.
  43. ↑ "Long Ride to Self Discovery" (PDF). The Daily Telegraph. Long Way Around. 14 October 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  44. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ewan McGregor gets back on his bike – this time for BBC Two". BBC. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  45. ↑ Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman, David Alexanian, and Russ Malkin (18 October 2004). "Long Way Round". Long Way Round. 42 minutes in. Sky One.
  46. ↑ Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman, David Alexanian and Russ Malkin (28 October 2007). "Long Way Down". Long Way Down. BBC Two.
  47. ↑ "Ewan McGregor secures sponsorship deal for South American road trip". heraldscotland.com. 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  48. ↑ Stephen M. Silverman and Pete Norman (12 April 2006). "Ewan McGregor Adopts a Daughter". People. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  49. ↑ Adams, Cindy (25 May 2011). "Beginning of a new friendship". New York Post (News Corporation). ISSN 1090-3321. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  50. ↑ White, Gemma (31 July 2012). "Celebrity adoptions: Love sees no colour". Scene magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  51. ↑ "Ewan McGregor Tattoo Pictures". Ready2Beat. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  52. ↑ Khokhar, Ahmer (1 August 2010). "'London eats liberty', says Ewan McGregor". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  53. ↑ "Roger Moore backs children's fairytales app in aid of Unicef". The Guardian. 18 Jun 2015.
  54. ↑ C Taylor (17 November 2007). "Ewan McGregor Admits To Drinking Problem". Entertainment Wise. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  55. ↑ "McGregor fine after cancer scare". BBC News. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
  56. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (20 December 2015). "Obi-Wan and Yoda are secretly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  57. ↑ Stasio, Marilyn (30 October 2014). "Broadway Review: ‘The Real Thing’ with Ewan McGregor". Variety. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  58. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 12. 29 December 2012.
  59. ↑ "BBC News - New Year Honours 2013: At a glance". BBC Online. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ewan McGregor.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.