Over the years, cinema goers and film lovers have been spoilt with an array of films starring Ewan McGregor. During his career, he has worked with many notable directors including Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Roman Polanski and many more. He is known and celebrated for his diversity amongst his role choices and his endeavours to deliver outstanding performances in both big blockbusters as well as small, independent movies.
Now, he will be back once more on the big screen in OUR KIND OF TRAITOR – based on the John le Carré novel of the same name and adapted for the screen by one of the UK’s most exciting writers, Hossein Amini. OUR KIND OF TRAITOR boasts an all-star cast including Stellan Skarsgård, Damian Lewis and Naomie Harris and to celebrate its release, we have taken a look at Ewan McGregor’s Top 10 Movie Performances – yes, it was a very difficult challenge indeed! Take a look at our collated list below along with the trailers for the movies.
Trainspotting (1996)
You can’t discuss Ewan McGregor‘s super career without mentioning TRAINSPOTTING. As soon as the movie hit the big screen, everyone quickly learnt this actor’s name if they hadn’t already heard of him. Danny Boyle directed Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in this probing look at the lives of heroin junkies in Edinburgh. The movie brings to the forefront a whole host of emotions; it’s alternately heartbreaking, hysterical, and disturbing, but it’s always entertaining. There are already rumours of a sequel to TRAINSPOTTING and we are keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed that Boyle keeps his promise of revisiting their characters when they’re older…
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
This was certainly a risky role for the Scottish actor, but there is no denying he gave it his all and silenced his critics who thought it may not be a successful project for him. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman gave their everything in this flashy, energetic movie musical from filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. This film showed the versatility of the actor as he conquered musical set pieces, singing and dancing as he took the audience on an emotional journey away from reality to a charismatic and exuberant world.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of The Sith (2005)
Ewan McGregor was under the direction of Star Wars guru George Lucas for this one. He starred alongside Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson and more in the third episode of the franchise and there is no denying that you cannot imagine anyone else in his role.
After three long years of relentless fighting, the Clone Wars are nearly at an end. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi to bring General Grievous, the deadly leader of the Separatist droid army, to justice. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine has grown in power. His sweeping political changes transform the war-weary Republic into the mighty Galactic Empire. To his closest ally, Anakin Skywalker, he reveals the true nature of power and the promised secrets of the Force in an attempt to lure him to the dark side.
Perfect Sense (2011)
Ewan McGregor shared the big screen with Eva Green, Connie Nielsen, Ewan Bremner and Stephen Dillane in this thriller/romance. It may not be one of his most well known roles, but McGregor certainly left his mark on the movie. When Susan (Eva Green), an epidemiologist, reemerges from an affair gone sour, she encounters a peculiar patient—a Glasgow truck driver who experienced a sudden, uncontrollable crying fit. Now he is calm, but he has lost his sense of smell. Susan learns there are 11 cases like him in Glasgow, 7 in Aberdeen, 5 in Dundee, and 18 in Edinburgh. In fact, Great Britain has 100 cases, with additional ones reported in France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, and they all appeared in the last 24 hours. Although Susan’s encounter with Michael (Ewan McGregor), a local restaurant chef, holds the promise of new love, the world is about to change dramatically. People across the globe begin to suffer strange symptoms, affecting the emotions, then the senses.
Big Fish (2003)
This wild fantasy from Tim Burton has a touching message about family and love. If this is the sort of movie which floats your boat and if you’re looking for an easy, entertaining watch, then this one’s for you. Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) has always been a teller of tall tales about his oversized life as a young man (Ewan McGregor), when his wanderlust led him on an unlikely journey from a small town in Alabama, around the world, and back again. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the delirious as he weaves epic tales about giants, blizzards, a witch, and conjoined-twin lounge singers.
Our Kind Of Traitor (2016)
This is the latest movie by Ewan McGregor and it is great to have him back on the big screen once again. Based on the John le Carré novel of the same name and adapted for the screen by one of the UK’s most exciting writers, Hossein Amini (Drive, The Wings of a Dove), OUR KIND OF TRAITOR boasts an all-star cast including Stellan Skarsgård, Damian Lewis and Naomie Harris.
While on holiday in Marrakech, an ordinary English couple, Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris), befriend a flamboyant and charismatic Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), who unbeknownst to them is a kingpin money launderer for the Russian mafia. Needless to say, it all goes a bit wrong from there as they get caught in a dangerous world of international espionage and dirty politics.Y0u don’t have long to wait to catch the movie, as it hits cinemas May 13th, 2016.
The Impossible (2012)
Based on the true story of one family’s survival of the 2004 tsunami, TEH IMPOSSIBLE sees Ewan McGregor join forces with Naomi Watts and is directed by J.A. Bayona. Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the centre of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. “The Impossible” is the powerful and unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart and McGregor delivered a stand-out performance in this challenging and emotional role.
Son Of A Gun (2014)
We love it when Ewan McGregor shows off his bad boy side, but you can’t help but like his character in this crime/drama movie. He stars alongside Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites with Julius Avery in the director’s chair in the Australian-based film. In the criminal world, life is like a game of chess. To gain control, you have to stay a few moves ahead of your opponent. Lose that control, and you risk becoming a pawn in their very dangerous game. During a six-month stint inside a West Australian prison, rookie criminal JR (Brenton Thwaites) meets the smart and enigmatic Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor). In exchange for protection on the inside, JR agrees to help Brendan get outside by any means possible, but of course there are big consequences…
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Ewan McGregor worked with yet another prolific director in BLACK HAWK DOWN – Ridley Scott – in this action/war drama based on the best-selling book detailing a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993. On this date nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This lead to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen, leading to the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. This film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed black hawks. McGregor starred with a stellar cast including Eric Bana, Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore.
The Island (2005)
Michael Bay directs the futuristic action thriller THE ISLAND starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the “The Island”—reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet—until he makes a terrible discovery that everything about his existence is a lie…and that he is actually more valuable dead than alive. Together with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson), Lincoln makes a daring escape to the outside world he’s never known…
There are so many good movies starring Ewan McGregor and he made it a very difficult list to compile. Of course, many people who enjoy watching this versatile actor may have a different order or even other movies, but for now, we are more than happy to sit and enjoy his next movie OUR KIND OF TRAITOR when it is released May 13th, 2016.
