Role Recall: Ewan McGregor Looks Back at 'Trainspotting,' 'Star Wars,' 'Moulin Rouge!,' and More

For Yahoo Entertainment's signature series Role Recall, Ewan McGregor Looks Back at Trainspotting, Star Wars, Moulin Rouge!, and much more.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a [BLEEP] big television.

EWAN MCGREGOR: We knew we had a novel that was enormously popular. You know, Danny, and Andrew, and John, and I had all done "Shallow Grave." And that had sort of piqued everybody's interest in-- in Britain. And so there was an expectation about what they would do next. And I think making a film about a bunch of heroin addicts in Scotland was probably that.

We had several toilet sets. We had the worst toilet in Scotland. And then we had two cubicles. With one three-sided cubicle that they filmed behind me in. Then we had a toilet that was cut this way with perspex where Brian Tufano, our DP, was underneath the toilet. So I said to Brian-- before we did the shot, I said, I'm really sorry. I mean, I'm sorry. And he went, don't worry about it.

We had half a toilet with bags of water in it. And people had their hands up next to the bags. And as I slid down, people were patting the bags to make it look like water was splashing over the side.

- You come here and say you want to help. And I say, hey, far out.

EWAN MCGREGOR: I remember at that point in the '90s, I was obsessed with Oasis. I became, like, a massive-- like, I had a fan-- fanatical attack. Todd Haynes offered me the part in "Velvet Goldmine." And I said I would only do it if he let me do all my singing live so that I could live out my Liam Gallagher fantasies, get-- get it out of my system. So I did. He-- all the singing in that film, I did there and then on the day, and always just in front of, like, 100 extras who were there, and then moved over there, and then moved here, and moved there. And it looks like a lot-- many more people.

- Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection.

- Not this time. And this time, you won't escape.

EWAN MCGREGOR: My main focus was watching lots of Alec Guinness, young-- young Alec Guinness films.

- But Miss Earp, wouldn't you like an invitation to the countess's ball? I can get you one, you know.

EWAN MCGREGOR: But it was quite difficult. Because then, with filmmaking at that time in Britain, it was very clipped. And-- and people spoke in a very precise and clipped-- and his-- his accent was quite different to what it became later with-- with his-- his Obi-Wan Kenobi.

- If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

EWAN MCGREGOR: And so I tried very hard just to feel like I was sounding like him, and how might he have been as a young guy now as opposed to, you know, in the 1930s or whatever.

- I have a bad feeling about this.

- I don't sense anything.

- It's not about the mission, master. It's something elsewhere.

EWAN MCGREGOR: I got taken to the props making department. They had this big chest with padlocks on it. And the props guy said, are you ready? And I went, yeah. And he opened up this chest. And it had just, like, nine different lightsaber handles all in felt. And he said, choose one. And I got to choose my Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber.

I think in the rehearsals, it-- it is fun to do the lightsaber noise while you're fighting. Because you spend a lot of time learning the fights, you know? But I never did it on set. I mean, the-- the sort of urban myth is that they kept-- I kept running all the takes, because I was always going, bssh, bssh. But it's-- it's-- I'm afraid it's not true.

- (SINGING) I can't survive without your sweet love. Oh baby, don't leave me this way.

EWAN MCGREGOR: We spent four months preparing for the film, rehearsing, dancing, singing. We were like a traveling theater troupe. And then by the time we started shooting, and singing, and dancing, it was all very second nature. It wasn't daunting anymore.

- (SINGING) My way.

- (SINGING) My gift is--

EWAN MCGREGOR: I had such blind faith in him. I think he's a genius. So I never doubted that the film would work. I never thought about the sort of risks of it being a musical or anything. I was amazed at when they-- when they were cutting trailers here in-- in America that they were cutting them without any music or singing in it, like it's just a drama. I was thinking, people will know it's a musical when they go and watch it in the cinema.

But it was just like, let's avoid the musical aspect of it at all costs. Could-- never understood that. I was very proud of its musicalness and enjoyed-- enjoyed that immensely.

- No, no, that's Gay Pride day stuff. Just leave those.

- Right.

- And that's gay book club. You better leave those too.

- What about the chair? Is the chair gay?

- The chair is not gay.

EWAN MCGREGOR: Mike Mills has got a very wonderful way of rehearsing. We don't really touch the script very much. He sent me off to a popular department store here in Los Angeles with Christopher Gimme, like 200 bucks. And he said, I want you to go and buy Christopher a scarf. And it was part of the-- part of the relationship building, me and Christopher.

And of course, we got to this department store. I was wearing black skinny jeans. And he was like, what are those? And I said, they're just jeans, Christopher. He went, they're very tight. I said, well, they're-- they're skinny jeans, you know? He's like, hmm. And Christopher just totally took off. I kept going over going, Christopher, we should go and look at the scarves, no? We'll go and look at the scarves.

And they were-- very pretty shop assistant. He was flirting with the shop assistant about the jeans and started trying on skinny jeans. And I kept trying to get him to go over to the scarves. And he was-- just wasn't having it. So in the end, I-- I bought him a pair of-- because he didn't have any money with him, I bought him a pair of skinny jeans. And we bought-- and I just grabbed a scarf on the way out and gave him the $200 for the scarf. I don't think I was ever reimbursed for his jeans, actually. So Plummer still owes me.

- How long have you been out here, holy one?

- Since the last full moon, maybe a little longer.

- Alone? No, you people are never alone.

EWAN MCGREGOR: It's a very sort of human look at Jesus in this part of his life. You-- you have to find your own version of any character you play. And I'm very happy that I found mine. It's a story about the relationship between fathers and sons as much as it's a story about Jesus. The truth is, though, when you put Jesus in the film, the film becomes about him.

And-- but I'm very proud of it. I think it's a beautiful film that Rodrigo Garcia has made. And I'm very happy to-- I'm very proud to be in it.