Sunday, February 17, 2013

Ewan McGregor has dozens of films he stared in but does not have an Oscar. His most recent movie is different because for once he has the opportunity to play a father. It is the first time in his career to play a dad although he has 4 daughters of his own. He has been a Dad off screen for 16 years. The new movie is called The Impossible and is a difficult thing to call a form of entertainment as movies are most of the time. This movie is sure to bring you to tears since it is based on a true story about a family who survived the Tsunami.
He wonders himself if it is right to make a movie about a disaster where so many people lost their lives. The giant wave that swept entire villages out to sea in the Indian Ocean happened on December 26, 2004. It killed more than 200.000 people and left 2 Million more homeless. The movie tells the true story of one family who survived. Naomi Watts plays the Mom. They play the parents of 3 boys on Christmas vacation in Thailand. Then the Tsunami hits and the family gets separated. So, there is crying in the movie as well as in the audience.
To recreate the Tsunami they used 35 thousand gallons of water that was thrust at the actors with great force. Ewan is now 41 years old and has made 50 films; however, he has never been nominated for an Oscar. McGregor lives in Los Angeles now with his wife of 17 years and their daughters who they keep out of the public eye. He grew up in Scotland, the son of school teachers. He hated school and frustrated his parents so much that they gave him permission to leave and so he left home by age 16.
His breakout role was in 1996 in a film called Trainspotting where he played a Heroin addict. At times his confidence was boosted by a bottle of booze but his drinking days ended more than a decade ago. He realized that trying to be a good husband and dad and drinker did not work. He was happy to give up the bottle rather than loose the people in his life. Also in 1996 he did a period film called Emma to show his range as an actor. It is the only film he regrets doing.
In 1999 he was asked to play the young Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars:Episode 1-The Phantom Menace and the other films too. By 2005 he was in Star Wars:Episode III-Revenge of the Sith. Having so many daughters, they wasn’t as thrilled with him playing war movies as they enjoyed him in the musicals. His role in 2001 in the romance Moulin Rouge was more appreciated in his home. Ewan finds singing to someone that they love them is far more powerful than just telling someone those dramatic words.
Moulin Rouge was the first Musical to be nominated for an Oscar in ten years. It was the story of a young writer and a dying cabaret star. He remembers his daughters crying to that movie. He has also been naked in some of his movies but justifies his decision to be naked on film by not understanding why it is an issue. He is an actor and people in life are indeed naked at times and if the scene calls for it , so what.
No matter what role he is in on screen or in life he is very comfortable in his own skin.
 
 
 

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