Ewan made his professional acting debut with the group, in October 1987, when he was an extra in an adaptation of E. M. Forster's A Passage to India. He is credited in the programme under 'Servants and others'. "I was running about with a turban and all blacked up."

Guided both by his education and his youthful enthusiasm for the ultra-contemporary, McGregor continued to switch from classic productions to streetwise exposes. Doggin' Around, starring Elliott Gould, was a cool jazz comedy, written by Alan Plater, who'd penned the famed series Beiderbecke. Then came Blue Juice, with Sean Pertwee and Catherine Zeta-Jones, where Ewan was Dean Raymond, a petty drug-dealer. And drugs stayed on the menu for his next effort, the real breakthrough.

McGregor continued working at an impressive pace after Emma, appearing in Brassed Off (1996), Nightwatch, The Serpent's Kiss (1997), and yet another feature for Danny Boyle, the 1997 fantasy A Life Less Ordinary.

In 1999, along with his role in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, McGregor appeared as infamous financier Nick Leeson in the biopic Rogue Trader, and had a full slate of projects before him. Some of these projects included several for his own production company, Natural Nylon, which he co-founded with fellow actors Jude Law, Sean Pertwee, Sadie Frost, and fellow-Trainspotter Jonny Lee Miller.

In 2000, McGregor could be seen in one of Natural Nylon's projects, Nora. Based on the real-life relationship between James Joyce and Nora Barnacle, it starred McGregor as Joyce and Susan Lynch as the eponymous Nora. The actor stayed in period costume for his other film that year, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. Following a turn in Black Hawk Down (2001), McGregor would reprise his role as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the eagerly anticipated Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

In 2003, McGregor starred in director Tim Burton's Big Fish. The young actor also starred alongside Renee Zellwegger, who, fresh from the success of Chicago, plays the unlikely love interest of McGregor's preening, sexist Catcher Block in Down With Love, director Peyton Reed's homage to 1960's romantic comedies. In 2004, McGregor will work with Bob Hoskin's in Marc Foster's upcoming thriller Stay, while 2005 will once again find McGregor playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the sure-to-be-a-blockbuster release of Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

Public Name: Ewan McGregor
Date of birth: 31 March 1971
Place of birth: Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, UK

Filmography

• The Great Pretender (2008)
• I, Lucifer (2008)
• Franklyn (2008)
• Number 13 (2008)
• Agent Crush (2007)
• The Tourist (2007)
• Cassandra's Dream (2007)
• Miss Potter (2006)
• Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)
• Stormbreaker (2006)
• Stay (2005)
• The Island (2005)
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Valiant (2005)
• Robots (2005)
• Big Fish (2003)
• Young Adam (2003)
• Down with Love (2003)
• Solid Geometry (2002)
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Black Hawk Down (2001)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• Nora (2000)
• Anno Domini (2000)
• Eye of the Beholder (1999)
• Rogue Trader (1999)
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Little Voice (1998)
• Velvet Goldmine (1998)
• Desserts (1998)
• A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
• The Serpent's Kiss (1997)
• Nightwatch (1997)
• "ER" (1 episode, 1997)
• Brassed Off (1996)
• "Karaoke" (1996)
• Emma (1996)
• "Tales from the Crypt" (1 episode, 1996)
• The Pillow Book (1996)
• Trainspotting (1996)
• Blue Juice (1995)
• "Kavanagh QC" (1 episode, 1995)
• Shallow Grave (1994)
• Doggin' Around (1994)
• "The Scarlet and the Black" (1993)
• "Lipstick on Your Collar" (1993)
• Family Style (1993)
• Being Human (1993)

Awards

• European Film Award for Achievement in World Cinema "Moulin Rouge!" 2001
• Golden Satellite Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) "Moulin Rouge!" 2001
• London Film Critics Circle Award Best British Actor "Moulin Rouge!" 2001
• London Film Critics Circle Award Best British Actor "Trainspotting" 1996