A Scottish actor, a patriot of his home country and a member of an ancient ancestral clan, Evan (Ewan) McGregor is known in the film world for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the famous episodes of Star Wars. The last 15 years in his career as an actor have been the most successful. 2018 is a significant year for Evan McGregor not only receiving the first Golden Globe, but also a big scandal related to leaving his legal wife to a colleague from the Fargo TV series.
Biography of Evan McGregor
The future actor, Evan (another version is Ewan) Gordon McGregor, was born on March 31, 1971 in the quiet small trading town of Criff, Scotland. From an early age, the boy showed interest in films and wanted to become an actor. Evan McGregor's uncle, Denis Lawson, with whom the boy had a good relationship since childhood, is also an actor and director.
Evan's father is James Charles Stuart McGregor, a physical education teacher.
Mother - Carol Diane Lawson, teacher.
The famous actor has an older brother, Colin, who has linked his life with a military career and serves as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
Evan comes from the ancient respected Scottish clan of the MacGregor.
The boy received his education in a regular school, where he studied at a relatively secondary level, paying great attention to musical and creative pursuits. At the age of 16, Evan McGregor left school to start work at the repertoire theater in Perth, Scotland. In this decision, the teenager found support from his parents.
Scottish actor career
At the age of 18, Evan McGregor was admitted to London's famous Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Soon the efforts of the young actor were noticed, and he was invited for a secondary participation in the television series "Lipstick on your collar" in 1993, which was shown on the central channel.
The rising star's first notable film was his role as Alex Lowe in the 1994 low-budget, critically acclaimed thriller and black comedy Shallow Grave. The plot of the film revolves around three cheerful friends renting rooms in an apartment. One room is empty, so they decide to occupy it with someone else. However, soon the settler is found dead, and under the bed is a suitcase full of money. A greedy war breaks out between old friends.
Real success came to Evan McGregor after starring in the drama "Trainspotting" (1995). This was followed by the successful fantasy melodrama "A Less Accustomed Life", where Cameron Diaz played the main female role.
The Scottish actor could have gotten a lead role in the drama The Beach, but the director considered Leonardo DiCaprio more suitable.
Evan McGregor was cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the iconic Star Wars prequels. In an interview, the actor admitted that he was extremely happy with this opportunity, and shooting in the famous science fiction became very exciting for him. “I have waited about 20 years to acquire my own lightsaber. There is nothing cooler than being a Jedi Knight."
Evan McGregor co-founded the British film and theater production company Natural Nylon, along with Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Johnny Lee Miller, Bradley Adams. Celebrity actors supported the release of low-budget projects that got the chance to see the light of day despite huge competition from Hollywood. However, in 2004 the company nevertheless ceased to exist.
Over the past decade, Evan McGregor has a lot of successful film works in the piggy bank. Among them:
- detective psychological thriller "Stay", where McGregor starred with Ryan Gosling and Naomi Watts;
- biographical drama about the life of an English children's book writer "Miss Potter" with Renee Zellweger;
- the famous detective thriller based on the novel by Dan Brown "Angels and Demons" with Tom Hanks, where Evan McGregor played the role of Patrick McKenna's cameralian;
- detective thriller "Ghost", which tells about the work of an unnamed literary writer, who was assigned to write a memoir about the famous politician;
- fantastic melodrama "The Last Love on Earth", where the main female role was played by Eva Green;
- the drama about the survival of one family after the devastating tsunami "Impossible", the female role was given to Naomi Watts;
- the crime series "Fargo", for participation in which, Evan McGregor received his first "Golden Globe";
- the family film "Christopher Robin", where McGregor plays an adult Christopher Robin, who has forgotten about Winnie the Pooh and the rest of his fabulous childhood friends.
Evan McGregor's personal life
After filming Trainspotting, the actor married a French production designer Yves Mavrakis. The wedding took place on July 22, 1995.
A year later, the couple had a daughter, Clara Matilda (February 1996), and then Esther Rose (November 2001). In 1997, while in Los Angeles on the set of films, the actor had to significantly reduce his work schedule because the girl fell ill with meningitis.
The couple also decided to adopt two more children: Jamiyan in 2006 and Anuk in 2011.
In 2017, while filming the crime series Fargo, Evan McGregor met American actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who is 13 years his junior. The actress was married for seven years, but separated from her husband in 2017.
A romance began between the actors. Returning from filming, Evan told his wife about his new feelings. In October 2017, the actor moved in with his beloved.
In January 2018, at the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in Fargo, the actor thanked his ex-wife and his children for supporting him throughout his career. But later he added that without Mary Elizabeth this "Golden Globe" did not exist. Yves Mavricas told the paparazzi that she absolutely did not like her ex-husband's speech.
The stellar romance almost did not find support among insiders and fans of McGregor's work. The ex-wife does not hide her dissatisfaction with Evan's act, the adult daughter Clara also speaks unflatteringly about Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
