18/06/2010

Ewan McGregor & Danny Boyle

Ewan McGregorEwan 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."

14/06/2010

Ewan warms to cold crowd in Sydney

Ewan McGregor

Nice guy ... Ewan pleases the fans in Sydney

LAST in Sydney in 2001 for the premiere of locally made blockbuster Moulin Rouge, handsome Scot Ewan has wasted no time catching up with old friends after flying into town on a promotional tour for his latest film The Ghost Writer.

Ewan told Confidential he had spent time with Oscar winning art director Catherine Martin on Sunday prior to his trip down the red carpet at the State Theatre that night.

However he didn't manage to cross paths with her partner, Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann.

"Baz's in New York," he said. "I did catch up with CM (Martin) today so that was nice. Hopefully I'll see Baz somewhere along the way."

Ewan showed why he is loved by peers and fans alike at the Sydney premiere of his new political thriller.

Noticing dozens of fans standing out in the winter cold, the actor dodged traffic to cross Market St and sign autographs and chat for 10 minutes.

Ewan McGregor sends fans crazy at Sydney Film Festival

SYDNEY was abuzz on Sunday night as Ewan hit the red carpet for the Australian premiere of his film The Ghost Writer. MY DEAR EWAN greeted a large crowd of cheering fans outside the State Theatre, taking time to stop for autographs and photos before speaking to media.

Directed by Roman Polanski, the political thriller features Ewan as a ghost writer hired to write the former British prime minister's memoirs and who starts to uncover more than he is meant to. Also starring Pierce Brosnan and Kim Cattrall, tickets to The Ghost Writer have been some of the most hotly contested in the Sydney Film Festival, even before Ewan's announced visit. Sunday night's showing played to a full house and the second screening on Monday was also sold out. Australian stars including Barry Otto, Hugo Weaving and Catherine Martin were at the premiere, while it was hard not to miss Miranda Otto who graced the red carpet in a vibrant orange dress. `I'm a big Polanski fan, so I'm always keen to see what he's doing,'' Miranda told AAP.

Polanski is currently under house arrest in Switzerland, where he is facing extradition to the United States for sentencing in a 1977 child sex case. Ewan said with The Ghost Writer, Polanski was ``on really top form'' and he had not heard of any negative public reaction towards the film because of the situation. ``I haven't met anybody that - There may well be but I haven't met anybody. Nobody's come up to tell me that,'' Ewanr told reporters on Sunday, adding that he enjoyed working with the director. ``Every director's great, different and unique. You can learn a lot working with someone who's a first time director as you can working with someone who's kind of a master.'' Ewan said he found The Ghost Writer's political storyline ``exciting'', but when it came to following the the British election, he wasn't so thrilled. ``I didn't really follow them to be honest. I'm not really interested in politics,''Ewan said. ``I don't ultimately think it makes very much difference, so I don't know. ``We (Britain) seem to have a Conservative Liberal Democrat government. How does that work? I thought they both had very different ideas about things and yet now they're both governing the country.''

13/06/2010

McGregor ducks issue of director Polanski's sex charge

EWAN McGregor is very fond of Roman Polanski and considers him one of the best directors he has ever worked with. But the British actor does not want to talk about the director's possible extradition to the US to face a 33-year-old sex charge.

"It just doesn't involve me," said the star of Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and three Star Wars movies in Sydney.

McGregor, who stars in Polanski's new political thriller The Ghost Writer, admits there is a reason for his reticence. The 76-year-old filmmaker has asked to be talked about as a director "and not make any comment because it's better for him if we don't".