Learn more about Ewan McGregor's career ahead of 'My Master Builder'

Learn more about the Trainspotting and Star Wars actor ahead of his return to the London stage in a scintillating Ibsen reboot.

Julia Rank25 February, 2025, 15:00

Equally adept at playing romantic leads, antiheroes, and Jedi masters, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor was born in Perth in 1971 to teacher parents. His uncle is the actor Denis Lawson and his aunt-by-marriage was the late actress Sheila Gish. McGregor began his career at the age of 16 as a stagehand at Perth Theatre prior to taking a drama foundation course at Kirkcaldy College of Technology. He moved to London to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Prior to his graduation from Guildhall, McGregor was cast in a lead role in Dennis Potter’s Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), followed by the role of antihero Julien Sorel in the BBC’s adaptation of Stendhal’s Scarlet and Black, co-starring with Rachel Weisz. He made his film debut in a supporting role in Being Human (1994) starring Robin Williams, and co-starred with Pete Postlethwaite and Tara Fitzgerald in British comedy-drama film Brassed Off.

In 1996, McGregor attained international stardom as heroin addict Mark “Rentboy” Renton in Danny Boyle’s screen version of Irvine Welsh’s gritty novel Trainspotting and tied with Ian McKellen (for Richard III) for Best British Actor of the Year at the London Film Critics Circle Awards 1996, as well as being named Best Actor at the BAFTA Scotland Awards. He reprised the role in 2017’s T2 Trainspotting.

Hollywood success beckoned when McGregor played the younger version of Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi (originally played by Alec Guinness) in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, comprising The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith between 1999-2005. He again wielded a lightsaber in the 2022 six-part series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

McGregor enjoyed further commercial success as romantic hero Christian in Baz Luhrmann’s musical extravaganza Moulin Rouge!, opposite Nicole Kidman as consumptive courtesan Satine. Other film roles have included Big Fish, The Ghost Writer, Beginners, August: Osage County, and Beauty and the Beast (showing off his singing abilities as candelabra Lumière).

McGregor returned to television in the third series of Fargo (2017). He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance as the titular fashion designer in the Netflix miniseries Halston in 2021 and most recently starred as Count Alexander Ilych Rostov in the acclaimed Paramount+ miniseries A Gentleman in Moscow, playing an aristocrat living under house arrest in an attic hotel room.

In 2013, McGregor was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and charity (he is closely associated with UNICEF UK). He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2024. He is also an avid motorcyclist and has made documentaries on the subject.

McGregor’s theatre CV is fairly concise, but highly distinguished. He returns to the West End stage in April in My Master Builder by Lila Raicek, a modernised version of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, directed by Michael Grandage. Learn more about the other prestigious productions in which he’s performed.

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Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs (1998-99)

McGregor was already a star by the time he made his professional stage debut in a revival of David Halliwell’s 1965 play Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (which became the 1974 film Little Malcolm starring John Hurt) at the Hampstead Theatre. In this dark comedy-drama, McGregor played Malcolm Scrawdyke, who forms the alternative political movement the “Party of Dynamic Erection” in an attempt to seek revenge against the Huddersfield art college that expelled him.

The production, which transferred to the West End’s Comedy Theatre, was directed by McGregor’s uncle Denis Lawson. Lawson’s stepdaughter Lou Gish played Scrawdyke’s love interest. Fun fact: while McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Lawson played the supporting role of fighter pilot Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy and reprised the role in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.

Guys and Dolls (2005-07)

After demonstrating his singing chops onscreen in Moulin Rouge!, McGregor made his musical theatre debut as the swaggering Sky Masterson in Michael Grandage’s production of Frank Loesser’s Broadway classic Guys and Dolls – an impeccably classy Donmar Warehouse production staged at the Piccadilly Theatre. McGregor co-starred with Jane Krakowski as Miss Adelaide, Douglas Hodge as Nathan Detroit, and Jenna Russell as Sarah Brown.

According to LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer, “McGregor's singing is not merely acceptable, it's actually pretty damn good… As for McGregor's acting, well it was much as one would expect from a 'serious', quality actor. McGregor's accent is not only authentic, but also carefully rehearsed and delivered. But he also looks like he's having a really great time in the role, and this infectious enthusiasm certainly comes across to the audience.”

McGregor was nominated for an Olivier Award, but it was the year in which the three Billy Elliott leads took the prize. Fittingly, the Piccadilly Theatre is now the home of the stage version of Moulin Rouge!.

Othello (2007-8)

McGregor was reunited with Michael Grandage to play Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello at the intimate Donmar Warehouse. Chiwetel Ejiofor won an Olivier Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his performance in the title role, and Kelly Reilly was Desdemona. With such star power in one of London's most exclusive venues, tickets allegedly sold for up to £1,200 on eBay. Reviewers praised the intelligence and freshness of the production.

The Real Thing (2014)

McGregor made his Broadway debut in an all-star revival of Tom Stoppard’s autobiographical play The Real Thing at the American Airlines Theatre. He played Henry, a playwright who is married to actress Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon) and falls in love with a younger actress, Annie (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

According to NewYorkTheatreGuide.com’s review, “Mr. McGregor is lovely to watch, as he journeys through his emotional arc… The best scenes are between Mr. McGregor and Ms. Gyllenhaal. The most compelling scene is when Henry crumbles from jealousy.”

My Master Builder (2025)

From 17 April to 12 July 2025, McGregor returns to the West End in Lila Raicek’s My Master Builder at the Wyndham’s Theatre, directed by the aforementioned Michael Grandage. This update of Ibsen’s The Master Builder is set in the Hamptons, where Elena Solness (Kate Fleetwood) prepares to give a party for her husband Henry, a successful architect. However, an unexpected guest arrives in the form of Henry's former student Mathilde (Elizabeth Debicki), with whom he may have had a relationship that was more than pedagogical.

New York-based playwright Raicek is a published poet and prolific screenwriter who is also currently working on plays inspired by Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and the life of Edvard Munch. Her debut novel The Plunge will be published later this year. Grandage’s recent projects include Frozen, Orlando, and Backstairs Billy.

Says McGregor: “It’s such a thrill be returning to the stage – and to work with Michael again, an actor’s director with whom I have had some of my happiest working experiences. He’s a generous collaborator, who enables you to discover the play together afresh in the rehearsal room. And what a play – I love where Lila has taken the story, a very modern take on today's sexual politics.”