Ewan McGregor used to show his kids classic Trainspotting toilet scene for 'a laugh'

Ewan McGregor used to show his kids the worst toilet in Scotland just for grimy laughs.

At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (via Variety), McGregor spoke about introducing his three children with ex-wife Eve Mavrakis to his filmography during their younger years, noting that though he wasn't there when his daughter, Clara, watched his 1996 British black comedy Trainspotting for the first time, "I did used to show my kids the toilet scene, just for a laugh."

McGregor continued, "It's a unique situation, perhaps, for a father to be able to show his children footage of him going down the toilet."

©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection Ewan McGregor in 'Trainspotting'

In the memorable scene, McGregor's heroin addict Mark Renton takes opium suppositories to combat his withdrawal. Before it takes effect, he finds that his constipation is constipation no more and stumbles into the "worst toilet in Scotland" to relieve himself. He then fishes through his own feces before diving headfirst into the toilet bowl, transporting from the filthy public restroom into what appears to be the ocean to retrieve the pills.

In conversation with EW back in 2017, director Danny Boyle revealed the grimy set was actually "meticulously clean," adding that the excrements were different kinds of chocolate. "The set smelled really sweet — delicious, really, kind of like a confectionary. You could have licked the chocolate right off the bowl," Boyle said, crediting McGregor for selling the illusion that he flushed himself down the toilet.

"We used a half toilet and, when he slips down, there's a slide on the other side," Boyle added. "Ewan claims it was his idea to twist around. It was great fun. When you come up against something really ugly," he said of the sequence, "you want to turn it into something beautiful straightaway."

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney Ewan McGregor

The film, based on Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name, is set to open as a West End stage musical in February 2024, with Welsh recently teasing a darker adaptation than his source material and the movie, which also yielded a 2017 sequel. "I wanted this to be something very different from either the film or the two versions of the stage play," he told The Observer. "It's going to be quite full-on, but hopefully a great experience."

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