Ewan McGregor looks back on ‘Trainspotting,’ ‘Big Fish’ and 25 years as Obi-Wan Kenobi: ‘I hope we get a chance to do another one’

Ewan McGregor’s roles have taken him far: to a galaxy far, far away (through the prequel “Star Wars” and its small-screen follow-up, “Obi-Wan Kenobi”); to Russia’s post-Bolshevik Revolution (“Gentlemen in Moscow”); even down to the worst toilet in Scotland (“Trainspotting,” the second of four collaborations with filmmaker Danny Boyle).

But apart from a handful of film premieres and a visit to the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theater which ended with his Porsche 550 Spider replica broken down outside the car park (“Superman came over, and then Spider-Man and then Marilyn Monroe – he was standing ‘around a broken replica of James Dean’s car’), the first time McGregor will take a dedicated tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame when he receives his own star, on Thursday. Unlike the lifetime achievement award he received (at age 41, no less) from the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2012, he says it’s an honor he’s grateful for, but it’s up to the presenters to decide if he deserves it.

“If anybody gives you an award for anything, you’re really happy about it,” says McGregor Diversity. “You are always glad to be thought of. But I don’t know how I feel about it… of course very happy and very honored and grateful, and a little embarrassed too.”

Given his resume, which includes “Velvet Goldmine,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Black Hawk Down” and “Big Fish” along with the credits listed above along with TV projects like “Fargo” and “Halston,” the actor has very little. cause for shame. From his early days as a stagehand at the Perth Repertory Theater in Scotland, McGregor says he remembers declaring his career ambitions early, if not completely humble. “I watched the actors and learned from them. One of them was up for an ad or something, and I was 16, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’d never do that – I just want to do work that’s important’,” he recalled.

“How arrogant to say!” he admits, laughing. “But in my clumsy way I made it mean. And when I say that I have achieved my dreams, I think that I have done work that was important to people who looked at it.”

His collaboration with Boyle, who hired McGregor for his directorial debut, “Shallow Grave,” was formative. “He understood how to direct to encourage and release good work. I always look back and think he set the bar so high.” If so, his follow-up, “Trainspotting,” and their third partnership in as many years, “A Less Ordinary Life” presented him with creative challenges, casting him in the George Lucas projection “Star Wars: Episode I — Would ​The Phantom Menace” more intense, even as it propelled it to a new level of commercial success.

“It’s always the same responsibility, to be believable in this character, in this story,” he says. “In the world of ‘Star Wars’, it was in the early days [with] the technology, and the green screen does not help the actor. It’s not helpful.”

Hayden Christensen, who played his young Padawan Anakin Skywalker in “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith” before taking on the villainous alter ego of the character Darth Vader in “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” McGregor remembers mentor him not only in the ways. of the Force, but while navigating the so-cloudy ways to act on a green screen. “The first time I met Ewan was in Australia,” says Christensen. “I remember walking into the hair and makeup room, and he came over and gave me a big hug. Right away I knew I was standing in front of a friend.”

“He really took me under his wing,” says Christensen. “It’s easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of making those films. But it brought it back to the emotional aspect of what we were always doing.”

McGregor’s own love of the franchise inspired him to delve into Lucas’ cinematic universe, but it also compelled him to share that fandom while exploring it from the inside. “My brother and I watched the first ‘Star Wars’ movies a million times, like most people my age. They were so important to us,” he recalls. “So I had to turn something off in my head to be able to deal with all that and move on.” Portraying a younger version of Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi gave him a welcome opportunity to delve into his predecessor’s filmography, and ultimately gave him a benchmark to strive for when he returned to the role. often.

“I would love, more than anything, to get to know Alec Guinness’s work because I played with him as a young man,” he says. “Even now with the series, that’s my personal challenge – if someone feels the same way, I’m happy.” McGregor also says that even after 25 years, he is not tired of playing the role. “I hope we get a chance to do another one,” he says. “Between where we ended up in the series and when Alec Guinness comes on screen with Luke Skywalker, I think there’s a few more stories to tell in there.” Christensen, who will present McGregor with his Walk of Fame star, shares his enthusiasm for more “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” especially if he gets another front-row seat to watch him in the role.

“If it means I got to do more with Eoghan, that’s a no-brainer, but I hope it continues with the character,” says Christensen. “Just as a fan, it’s so exciting to watch him play Obi-Wan – he’s so good at it.”

Although he played Obi-Wan Kenobi long enough to be at least as synonymous with the character as Guinness (certainly for the generations built on the prequel trilogy), McGregor managed to work at the same time with a series of killer filmmakers during his career. — among them Peter Greenaway, Todd Haynes, Baz Luhrmann, Ridley Scott, Roman Polanski and Ron Howard — whose individual collaborations would deserve the kind of canonization for another actor he is receiving with this honor. He says it was challenging at times to adapt to their different leadership styles; McGregor particularly remembers receiving pointed feedback from Woody Allen on the set of “Cassandra’s Dream”.

“One time, he walked over to me and said, ‘I can hear every seat in the cinema hitting up,’ as I was boring everyone to death and everyone was leaving,” McGregor remembers. “I was like, ‘Oh, thanks, Woody.’ So me and Colin Farrell, as soon as we saw each other, we started running lines because there were big, long scenes, and he doesn’t like to do or he doesn’t often cover — which is great to do as an actor because he’s something a little like being on stage, but you have to be aware of it.”

He points out that he developed some special relationships with some of the other filmmakers, including “Beginners” director Mike Mills, who is also one of McGregor’s presenting colleagues. “Mike was brilliant, in terms of his respect for acting and the belief that that should be given and time and focus put into a set,” he says. “It has that balance, where it feels like everything is in the performance and the cinematography and everything adds to it.” Meanwhile, after “Big Fish,” he hoped to find another director with whom he could maintain the kind of relationship he had with Boyle. “I really wanted to be Tim Burton’s new Johnny Depp,” he admits. “But of course Johnny Depp is still Johnny Depp with Tim Burton, so I didn’t have a chance.”

Each time, McGregor says he was lucky those filmmakers were the ones to give him a chance. In fact, reaching out to him in the past hasn’t paid off: “The only time I approached a director, after watching ‘Under the Skin’,” was Jonathan Glazer. he says. “I’ve never met him, and I don’t know him, but I wrote a letter through my agent saying, ‘I just want to work with you.’ I never heard from him!”

After years of on-set education from master-class directors, McGregor directed his first film, “American Pastoral,” in 2016. While he says he loved the experience, he admits he’s not sure when will he try again. “I’ve never felt more alive than scared and responsible,” he says. “As an actor and director, I had to be treated like an adult. I made the film I wanted to make, and I was very proud of it. But when it opened and nothing happened, it broke me a little.”

One incentive to do so, he says, is the opportunity to showcase his “Fargo,” “Birds of Prey” and “A Gentleman in Moscow” costar (and from 2022, his wife) Mary Elizabeth Winstead. “I would love to direct Mary in something,” says McGregor. “I think she’s a great actress, and I’d love to find a script that would be like a complete power vehicle for her. I think if it happens again, that’s what I want to get.”

“Moscow” not only marks his third meaty TV project in as many years, after “Halston” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” but extends his skills to executive producing. Even if the ceremony doesn’t get him a call from Glazer, he hopes it creates a little visibility — if not for him, then for fans and peers who feel like they’re watching the entertainment industry from the outside.

“Sometimes when you see the Globes or the Oscars happening, you can think, that’s Hollywood,” he says. “I don’t know that I’m part of that gang, but this star could make others feel more confident to claim their space in this world, and in this business – that feels worth it all .”