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Ewan McGregor
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30Biography
Born: Ewan Gordon McGregor on 31 March 1971, in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland.
Ewan McGregor is a Scottish film actor who has had significant success in both mainstream and "art house" films. He is perhaps best known for playing the lead role in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy of Star Wars, his role as the romantic penniless writer in the 2001 award-winning Moulin Rouge!, and his motorcycle adventures with friend Charley Boorman.
McGregor came to prominence through his role as the heroin addict Mark Renton in the film version of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (1996). This role immediately followed his movie debut performance in Danny Boyle's 1994 film Shallow Grave.
McGregor has also been featured as the male romantic lead in Hollywood films such as Moulin Rouge! and Down With Love, and in the British film Little Voice. He received excellent reviews for his performance as an amoral drifter mixed up in murder in the rather bleak indie British film Young Adam (2003), which co-starred the acclaimed British actress Tilda Swinton.
McGregor took on the role of a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, originally made famous by Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars films. He took very special care (especially Episode III) of his portrayal of Kenobi to ensure that Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings, and accents closely resemble Obi-Wan's "Sir Guinness self".
I've been waiting nearly twenty years to have my own light saber. Nothing's cooler than being a Jedi Knight.
McGregor was also the voice of the lovable robot "Rodney Copperbottom" in the 2005 animated feature Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry, Robin Williams and Mel Brooks. Most recently, he starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. He has played the role to much critical acclaim and received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor in 2005.
A keen motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon motorcycle trip with his friend, Charley Boorman in 2004. From mid-April to the end of July, they travelled from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Canada, for a cumulative distance of 18,887 miles (30,395 km). The trip formed the basis of a TV series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.
McGregor is married to Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer whom he met while filming a guest appearance on the television series Kavanagh QC. They have two daughters together, Clara Mathilde and Esther Rose.
