The Island: Loved it. Nice take on clones. Ewan McGregor once again shows his versatile nature as an actor... Thats why he's my favorite. You gotta see this movie!

Ewan McGregor:
Childhood
Ewan Gordon McGregor was born March 31, 1971 and brought up in the "haggis and heather" town of Crieff, Scotland. In other words, Crieff is a small, traditional country town where Ewan enjoyed a happy childhood playing in forests, with horses, and performing Elvis impersonations for his parents and their friends. He caught the acting bug from his uncle, Denis Lawson, an actor who starred in Scottish movies (Local Hero) and West End musicals (Mr. Cinders) and was also in the first three Star Wars films. "He had long hair, beads and a furry waistcoat. I aspired to be as different as he seemed to me," McGregor says of his uncle.

Starting Off
At sixteen, Ewan left Crieff and Morrison Academy, where his father James is a Career Advisor and P.E. Teacher, to gain experience with the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents encouraged him to leave school and pursue his acting goals rather than be unhappy. Ewan 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. Right before graduating he snagged the role of Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter's 1993 six-part Channel 4(UK) series Lipstick on Your Collar and left to pursue his promising acting career.

Lipstick did not turn out to be the success people had hoped for and Ewan was not turned into an overnight sensation like he had imagined. The phone was not suddenly ringing off the hook with offers so Ewan went from that lead role to the blink and you'll miss him role of Alvarez in Bill Forsyth's Being Human, which turned out to be a huge box office dud for the the film's star, Robin Williams. But hey, Ewan did get to travel to Morocco to film his couple of lines so it wasn't a complete loss. He followed this experience up by hopping over to France to play the lead role of Julien Sorel in Ben Bolt's major three-part BBC adaptation of Stendah's Scarlet and Black. Again, stardom eluded Ewan but that never really was his aim to begin with.

Breakthrough
And then came his breakthrough role as Alex Law in the brilliant Shallow Grave, directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge and produced by Andrew MacDonald. Wicked, dark, hilarious, scary, wonderful: only a few words to describe this amazing film. With the cult success of Shallow Grave, came the opportunity for more work like The Pillow Book and the role that finally created the most attention up to that point for Ewan– Trainspotting, the second film by the Shallow Grave trio. Ewan starred as Mark Renton: heroin addict, hero, anti-hero. The film made waves for its brilliant and refreshingly bold images and for being sick, wacky, fabulously funny, visually arresting and completely innovative. Ewan was the heart of the film. Trainspotting introduced to the world a unique new talent.

Star on the Rise
The success of Trainspotting not only boosted British cinema but allowed Ewan more opportunities, adding plenty of diverse and varied roles to his resume: pigeon keeper Billy in Little Voice, coal miner and horn player Andy in Brassed Off, Glam rocker Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine, kidnapper Robert in A Life Less Ordinary among many. Ewan also won the coveted role of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three Star Wars prequels. His starring role in the innovative tragic-comic-operatic-musical Moulin Rouge as Christian displayed the ability Ewan has in taking on any type of role and making the character come alive in a way few actors can. Ewan's performance gained many fans and attention from the film world, garnering a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Be sure to check out the Film section of this site for a complete list of all of Ewan's work.

Getting Personal
Ewan is married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis. They met while working on the TV show Kavannagh QC, where Ewan played a young man accused of rape. They married in France in July of 1995 and have two daughters, Clara Mathilde (born in February of 1996) and Esther Rose (born in November of 2001). They currently live in London. Whenever possible, Ewan takes his family with him on location for each movie he makes.

Ewan owns several motorcycles and is involved with a racing team in England. He has quite the passion for motorbikes. Ewan has stated in the past that he is a huge fan of Oasis and had the pleasure of announcing Oasis' act on the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards with Ewen Bremmer (Spud from Trainspotting) and gave out copies of their 3rd CD to members of the crew while filming the first Star Wars prequel. Despite playing a rock star in Velvet Goldmine, he still has dreams of being one. Starring in Moulin Rouge gave Ewan the chance to sing once again. But don't get him wrong, Ewan loves acting and can't imagine doing anything else. He also claims he would never move to Hollywood or back to his hometown as it is not the same as when he was growing up there. Ewan is very close to his parents who have accompanied Ewan to premieres and his older brother Colin, a RAF pilot. His mother Carol has a cameo as one of the would-be tenants in Shallow Grave. She helps handle Ewan's busy schedule and fan mail. Carol is also involved in a program in the UK to offer descriptive audio tracks of movies for the visually impaired. Ewan visits Crieff whenever he can. He's made trips back to Morrison Academy to give a lecture on acting and to participate in the annual Crieff Highland Games. Ewan is also actively involved in numerous charity organizations and causes, doing his part whenever possible.

One thing to be sure of, Ewan does not want to make films he wouldn't watch himself. He chooses his roles because of the director, the cast, and the script. Sometimes, the film doesn't turn out the way it started off. In taking chances, Ewan has taken on roles in films that might and have failed at the box office. He took a risk in forming a production company with good friends Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee, Jude Law, and Sadie Frost called Natural Nylon which they hoped would make innovative films that they actively participate in and care about. Ewan starred as James Joyce in Nora, a film he co-produced with Natural Nylon's involvement. He recently left Natural Nylon in 2002 however, due to lack of time. He also dabbled in directing a short segment of Tube Tales that Sean and Jude were also involved with. Ewan, in fact, shared an apartment with Jude when they first started out as struggling actors in London after meeting at an audition years ago. They are all part of the recent resurgence of British cinema, with Ewan well on his way to establishing himself as an actor with a long creative career ahead of him unlike any other.

(From the site www.ewanspotting.com, dedicated to him, duh!)

Filmography:
Television
Lipstick on Your Collar (1993)... Private Mick Hopper
Scarlet and Black (1993)... Julien Sorel
Doggin' Around (1994)... Tom Clayton
Kavannagh QC, "Nothing But the Truth" (1995)... David Armstrong
Tales From the Crypt, "The Cold War" (1995)... Ford
Karaoke (1996)... Young Man
ER, "The Long Way Around" (1997)... Duncan Stewart
Nature, "The Polar Bears of Churchill" (2002)... Himself
Solid Geometry (2002)... Phil
"Long Way Round" (2004)... Himself

Theatre
What the Butler Saw (1992)... Nicholas Beckett
Little Malcolm And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs (1998-1999)... Malcolm Scrawdyke
Guys & Dolls (2005)... Sky Masterson

Short Films
Family Style (1993)... Jimmy
Swimming With the Fishes (1996)
Desserts (1998)... Stroller
Anno Domini (1998)

Feature Films
Being Human (1993)... Alvarez
Shallow Grave (1994)... Alex Law
Trainspotting (1996)... Mark Renton
Emma (1996)... Frank Churchill
The Pillow Book (1996)... Jerome
Brassed Off (1996)... Andy
The Serpent's Kiss (1997)... Meneer Chrome
Blue Juice (1997)... Dean Raymond
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)... Robert Lewis
Nightwatch (1998)... Martin Bells
Velvet Goldmine (1998)... Curt Wild
Little Voice (1998)... Billy
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)... Obi-Wan Kenobi
Rogue Trader (1999)... Nick Leeson
Eye of the Beholder (1999)... The Eye
Nora (2000)... James Joyce
Moulin Rouge! (2001)... Christian
Black Hawk Down (2002)... Ranger Spec. Danny Grimes
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)... Obi-Wan Kenobi
Down With Love (2003)... Catcher Block
Young Adam (2003)... Joe Taylor
Big Fish (2003)... Young Edward Bloom
Stay (2005)... Sam Foster
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)... Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Island (2005)... Lincoln Six-Echo
Stormbreaker (2006)... Ian Rider
Untitled Peter Capaldi/Ewan McGregor Project (2006)

Voice work
Faster (2003)... Narrator
Robots (2005)... Rodney Copperbottom
Valiant (2005)... Valiant
Gnomeo and Juliet (2006)... Gnomeo

Other credits
Tube Tales, "Bone" (1999)... director
Nora (2000)... co-producer

Unconfirmed/rumored projects
Flora Plum (2005)... Jake
The Hellfire Club... John Wilkes
Untitled biopic... Billy Fury