Ewan McGregor Empire - Biography

The Story Of The Scotsman!

Born on the 31st of March 1971, young Ewan McGregor got into acting because his uncle, Denis Lawson, was making money at it. Uncle Denis even had a role in Star Wars, playing Wedge in the original trilogy. McGregor left home to study acting at 16, first at the Perth Repertory Company, then at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His first movie job was the role of Alvarez in Bill FOrsyth's quirky 1993 film Being Human, with Robin Williams.

The movie - and McGregor - were quickly forgotten. But in 1994, he met a director-producer-writer trio who would really launch his career. Danny Boyle, Andrew MacDonald and John Hodge cast him in Shallow Grave, a macabre thriller that became a big hit. The same group got back together for Trainspotting, another enormous success in Britain and abroad.

McGregor also appeared in Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow, Petar Greenaway's The Pillow Book and Brassed Off before the Trainspotting team reunited a third time for A Life Less Ordinary, their first American film. Since then, he has appeared in Velvet Goldmine and Little Voice. But he still remembers Star Wars movies from a long time ago. "They were completely engrossing," he says. "When you watch them as a child, they take over. I used to play Star Wars all the time." And when he was called to play young Obi-Wan Kenobi, he says,"You can't say no, can you, if they ask you to do it? It's to be part of a legend, part of a modern myth. And to see yourself in space, that's kind of cool."

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This short and brief Ewan biography was found in The Phantom Menace Official Souvenir Magazine.


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