Ewan McGregor & Danny Boyle

Ewan McGregor & DANNY BOYLE.He is best known for directing Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, one of the most popular films of the 90s.

Now, British film-maker Danny Boyle is about to add another string to his bow, as he has been selected as the artistic director for the Olympics opening ceremony when it comes to London in 2012.

For the 53-year-old from Manchester, becoming a movie director was a far cry from his first career choice, which was to train as a priest.

At the age of 14, Boyle began to make arrangements to attend a seminary, before a priest warned him against it.

"Whether he was saving me from the priesthood or saving the priesthood from me, I don't know. But quite soon after, I started doing drama," Boyle told The Telegraph last year.

Boyle began his new career in theatre, landing the job of deputy director at the Royal Court, before moving to the BBC to work as a producer.

He produced a number of TV films, including Alan Clarke's Elephant, before becoming a director on several episodes of Inspector Morse and the 1993 series Mr Wroe's Virgins.

'Betrayal'

His first feature, the low-budget 1994 movie Shallow Grave starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston, was a surprise hit.

It also marked the beginning of the successful relationship between Boyle, McGregor, producer Andrew Macdonald and writer John Hodge.

Boyle won a Bafta award and was named best British newcomer at the London Critics Circle Film Awards.

But it was the 1996 adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting two years later, that really got people talking about the director.

The movie picked up an Oscar, which went to Hodge for his screenplay, and was a massive commercial success, propelling the careers of McGregor and co-stars Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle.

Screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Trainspotting went on to become the highest-grossing British film that year.Boyle's next movie - A Life Less Ordinary - saw him once again joining forces with Hodge, Macdonald and McGregor.

In 2000, Boyle made his first big-budget Hollywood feature The Beach, which was based on Alex Garland's acclaimed novel of the same name.

However, the changed-ending of the movie left audiences unsatisfied and the film failed to match box office expectations.

It was the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role that created headlines and led to the demise of McGregor and Boyle's working relationship.

The Scottish actor revealed that he had been due to play the lead until DiCaprio stepped in.

In 2000, Boyle spoke about their spat and told The Independent newspaper that McGregor "feels we betrayed him, and I think he's right."

And five years later, McGregor himself opened up to US magazine Playboy about his feelings over their argument.

"We had a director-actor relationship unlike any other I've had. But Boyle and his people didn't treat me very well.

"It wasn't just about The Beach, it was that they were dishonest with me about it. It cost us our friendships. I had the rug pulled out from under my feet. It was a betrayal."

Bafta interruption

It has been reported that the pair have put their differences behind them, but there are currently no plans to make Porno - the follow-up to Trainspotting - despite Boyle apprently being keen.

In 2003, McGregor said he had no plans to sign up to the project.

"It would be a terrible shame to make a sequel to Trainspotting if it wasn't as good," he said.

"I'm very proud of that film and I wouldn't do anything to damage it. I read the book [Porno] and I didn't think it was as good as Trainspotting."