Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971, in the small town of Crieff, Scotland. The son of teachers, James and Carol McGregor, Ewan also has a brother, Colin, who is a pilot in the Royal Air Force. McGregor had an idyllic childhood, playing in the forests around Crieff and showing off his already apparent mimetic skills by doing Elvis impressions for his parents and their friends.
Young Ewan's first inspiration to become an actor was his uncle, Dennis Lawson, who would go on to play ace pilot Wedge Antilles throughout the original Star Wars trilogy. "He had long hair, beads and a furry waistcoat," McGregor has said of his uncle. "I aspired to be as different as he seemed to me." With Lawson's example not far from his mind, McGregor left Crieff to work at the Perth Repertory Theatre when he was 16. Next, he studied drama for a year in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and then went to London, where he took a three-year drama course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1993, right before he was to have graduated, McGregor left to pursue roles in television and film.
spotting a good gig
McGregor's first big break came in 1994, playing Alex Law in the British thriller Shallow Grave. The film, directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and produced by Andrew Macdonald, brought McGregor to an international audience, and his stardom was assured two years later when the Shallow Grave production team reunited to bring Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting to the screen. In Trainspotting, McGregor starred as Mark "Rent-boy" Renton, a heroin addict who famously dives into the filthiest toilet in Scotland.
McGregor's breakthrough performance in Trainspotting established him as an actor on the rise. Praise from critics and audiences alike continued throughout 1996 as he landed roles in many film projects ranging from the movie version of Jane Austen's Emma -- starring Gwyneth Paltrow -- and the working-class comedy Brassed Off, to Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book. In 1997, McGregor starred in A Life Less Ordinary, co-starring Cameron Diaz, and the next year he appeared in Velvet Goldmine.
a force to be reckoned with
McGregor, who had always preferred to work in offbeat films, attracted the attention of Hollywood nevertheless. In 1999, he starred as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas' highly-anticipated prequel to the Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. McGregor attacked the role with his usual dedication, screening all the films of Sir Alec Guinness, who had played Kenobi in the original series, to match his performance with the elder actor's.
Since then, McGregor has gone on to appear in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge and Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (both 2001), and, in 2002, reprised his Star Wars role in Episode II -- Attack of the Clones. In 2003, he starred in the retro sex comedy Down with Love, and, as Joe Taylor, McGregor tackles "possibly the most introverted and complicated part that I have ever played" in the British crime thriller, Young Adam.
a star family man
Currently filming Star Wars -- Episode III in Australia, McGregor, when not filming, lives in London with his wife of eight years, French production designer Eve Mavrakis, and their two children, 7-year-old Clara Mathilde and 2-year-old Esther Rose.
