Ewan McGregor
Maxim Magazine May 2003

Quick Picks
*****************
Favorite page-turner:
"I really love books. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens is an incredible read. It's very whitty."

Biggest Addiction:
"Cigarettes and coffee, because they're hand in hand. I'm a bit out of control with both of them."

Favorite New Band:
"There's really none right now. I'm listening to Iggy Pop as this moment- that's about it."
*****************

He's been a Jedi, a junkie, a solider, and a singer. But to us he's just a lovable guy with an incomprehensible accent.
Is there an interpreter in the house?

The way we heard it, your parents actually encouraged you to quit school to be an actor.
Well, no. They didn't encourage me. They said I could leave school if I wanted to, because I wasn't having a very good time.

We're gonna fire that private eye. He also told us that your uncle Denis Lawson played Luke's buddy Wedge in the original Star Wars trilogy.
That's true. He only did two weeks' work on the first one and a week on the third. He hates them! My uncle inspired me to act, but it wasn't because of Star Wars.

But that didn't stop you from waving around your own lightsaber when the first opportunity came up.
I thought about it more than most movies, because usually I just go with my gut instinct. Here, there was an awful lot to consider. I asked people- some said I shouldn't do it, others said I should. But I like being in them. I like that kids can see them, because they can't see my other stuff.

Is that because you tend to drop your pants more often than Ron Jeremy?
Right, yeah. There's good reason they haven't seen my stuff. It's too rude.

Can you spoil Episode III for us?
I don't know anything about it. I suppose me and Hayden have some big kickoff fight- as far as I know, it's not been written yet.

Lazy writers! Hey, you used to room with that Jude Law dude, didn't you?
Yeah. Me and Jude started out at the same time. We met at an audition for a movie called My 1964 U.S. Tour, roughly based on the Rolling Stones, that was never made. We both got completely pissed during the audition and read badly. [laughs]

So no embarrassing tales about Jude leaving filthy dishes or bringing home stray cats?
[laughs] No.

Enough frivolity. Now that you're a celebrity, do you require green M&M's exclusively in your dressing room and hang out with the Osbornes?
No. I'm not interested in celebrity. Acting is more than award ceremonies and wearing the right thing at premieres. You see a lot of actors who are more interested in going at it with some blonde in a club than acting. I'm just interested in being a good actor. That's why I'm in it.

So you don't wave those "sexiest actor" magazine covers to snag free lunches in exclusive restaurants?
[laughs] I can afford my own meals! But that "sexiest actor" stuff doesn't mean anything, because it's in a magazine, and magazines are… Wait, I have to remember I'm talking to one! Magazines are great and they're always full of truth, and we all live our lives according to what they say! [laughs]

Did you have to do any "research for Trainspotting? I met a lot of heroin addicts and read a lot about addiction. People want to pigeonhole addicts as nasty lowlifes. You'll find they can be funny, charismatic people. Plus, a lot of audiences didn't think there was any upside to heroin- and, ultimately there isn't- but people do take it for a reason: It's the only good time they have. We showed the truth, and people would rather we didn't.

Nice of you to be so understanding. Everybody was so down on us when we were cooking the rock. Any chance of a sequel?
I wouldn't be too keen on that. If it wasn't as good, people would be left remembering a poor sequel instead of a great film. And I'd be loath to touch it just in case it didn't work out. I love Trainspotting with all my heart. It's a phenomenal film. But Porno [Irvine Welsh's sequel novel] is great. It's all the characters 10 years later- and there's some f***ing outrageously dark stuff going on in it.

Just when we wanted to make fun of you for Moulin Rouge, you hit us with Black Hawk Down
When we were running down those streets, they really were f***ing blowing up 'round about you! There was very little acting required. Coming from a generation that's never had to fight in a war, I was fascinated to see how soldiers operate during a firefight, how they don't just curl into a ball.

Your brother Colin's in the Royal Air Force. Did he rip the film for any glaring military inaccuracies?
There was one. I called him and said, "I fired this grenade launcher in this one scene and did this huge recoil…" And he goes, "What? Grenade launchers don't recoil." And I said, "Oh, sh**!" [laughs] But overall he thought it was pretty accurate.

Weird. Ours has a bit of a kick. Anyway, a group of young actors spending four months in Morocco- did you guys raise
hell?
Morocco's phenomenal, but the city of Rabat, where we were, is a dull town. A couple of weeks in the hills of Rabat, you've done everything there is to do. I just played a lot of chess. Not very crazy, I'm sorry. You'll have to ask the other guys- I'm not telling tales!

What's scarier, 1,000 Somali gunmen or a drunk and angry Scottish psycho like Begbie from Trainspotting?
A drunk Begbie, every time [laughs] I've met that character all over Scotland. He's always a small guy, very often with that same mustache. And he's got no problem ripping your head off. But Robbie Carlyle's a sweetheart!

What can you tell us about your new romantic comedy, Down with Love? Please say there's a rocket launcher…
It's a homage to those '60's movies with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. I play Catcher Block, the archetypal ladies' man.

We gotta ask: Are Scots really as cheap as we say they are?
No! I don't know where that comes from. I think it's just some sh** people use to get at one another- whether it's Americans saying it about Canadians or North Londoners about South Londoners. We're very generous friendly people.

Great- lunch is on you!