QUAD WAY DOWN LONDON TO SAHARA

Hot Scot keeps his cool

There should be a special place in heaven reserved for actors such as Ewan McGregor - or, considering his notorious lavatorial plunge in Trainspotting, a loo with a golden toilet seat.

Like William Holden and Jack Lemmon in the 1950s and Greg Kinnear and Steve Carell in our own time, McGregor is one of those average- looking Everyman actors who shuffles gracefully between drama, light comedy, romance, musicals, genre movies and, at a pinch, bone-crunching action - especially if it involves a light saber and an Alec Guinness accent.

Even more appealingly is McGregor's willingness to take the supporting role, to step out of the spotlight and into the shadows in order to serve the screenplay instead of demanding the script serve him, a la Russell Crowe or Tom Cruise.

In other words, the Perth-born (Perth, Scotland, that is) 39-year-old doesn't look or behave like a movie star yet is widely admired, generally receives strong reviews and has as busy a dance card as any actor in the business.

Despite a stable family life, almost zero tabloid action and enough cheesy, big-budget movies to ruin any career (The Island, Angels and Demons), McGregor has retained the cool and street cred earned with his breakthrough hits Shallow Grave (1994) and Trainspotting (1996).

The modesty and admirable work ethic which comes across in all of his screen performances flows naturally from the man himself, whose focus, judging by our brief discussion, is on the work and not the business of being a celebrity.

Never raising his voice to make a point nor launching into an empty oratorical flourish, McGregor drops names only after I tease them from him and is so serious about his acting he might have been an economist commenting on this week's employment numbers. He is modesty and puritanical purposefulness personified.

McGregor says that he has never sought roles which elevate his character or status. Rather, he considers that the job of an actor is to make whichever character he plays believable and well-rounded - be it heroic types, as in The Island or Star Wars, or little guys such as The Men Who Stare at Goats.

"I've never bothered about my standing. I'm just an actor," McGregor tells me during his recent visit to Australia for the Sydney Film Festival, where his latest movie, the Roman Polanski-directed thriller The Ghost Writer, was one of the star attractions.

"I don't like to give myself any limits. I don't only play the leading role and I don't only work in studio pictures. My only decision is based on whether I like the story or not or whether I like the character."

Indeed, The Ghost Writer, in which he plays a writer hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister being accused of war crimes, might turn out to be the most iconic role of McGregor's career. Even though McGregor is the film's lead, he is by far the weakest personality in a film full of powerhouse presences.

There's Pierce Brosnan as the charismatic Tony Blair-like leader whose legacy is besmirched by his actions during the war on terror; there's his strong-willed wife (Olivia Williams) who is standing by her rather shallow, preening husband; Kim Cattrall as his ballsy, efficient personal assistant; and Tom Wilkinson as an academic with sinister connections.

Yet it's hard to imagine an actor who more effectively plays such an ordinary guy - he doesn't even have a name but is simply known as "the Ghost" - bringing just enough intelligence, curiosity and boldness to make him interesting and believable.

While The Ghost Writer has been adapted from a very well-regarded novel by Robert Harris, the real attraction for McGregor was the chance to work with the Polish-born master Polanski, who re-established himself as a major figure in world cinema with the Holocaust drama The Pianist.

"I expected to be challenged by Roman and I really wanted to be. He's always giving actors really interesting notes on their performance, left-of-field comments that bring things to life," says McGregor.

Even though The Ghost Writer is set on an island off the east coast of the United States, the film was shot in Germany because of Polanski's well-known legal problems. (He fled the US in 1978 and only last month Switzerland rejected a request to extradite him to America.)

McGregor says he had no qualms about working with Polanski.

"His case and his situation have nothing to do with me. I was there to work with one of our greatest living filmmakers. The rest didn't matter."

McGregor was also drawn to the film due to its bold interweaving of fact and fiction.

"Politicians make monumental life or death decisions on our behalf and then retire and wander off into a world of speech-making and money-making and are not held accountable for the decisions they made or the lies they told and they get off scot-free. It drives me mad and this film is very timely."

While Brosnan plays the former politician in The Ghost Writer, it is McGregor who comes across as the the more diplomatic of the pair.

When asked about Polanski at this year's Berlin Film Festival - where The Ghost Writer premiered to great acclaim - Brosnan infamously declared: "The film is in the can and so is our director."

When I asked McGregor about his involvement with James Bond - he was supposedly close to being offered the role ahead of Daniel Craig - the actor would not give me a single hint on how close he came to swapping the light sabre of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the double entendres of 007.

"They met with a great many actors for that part. I thought that Daniel Craig did a really good job," says McGregor, who is said to have rejected the role for fear of being typecast.

When I press a little harder, McGregor hesitates, then gets a little annoyed. "Listen, I'm sure they talked to a lot of people and I haven't given it too much thought."

McGregor is more willing to speak about his hesitation in taking on the role of the younger Obi-Wan in the final three Star Wars movies, worried that once he swung the light sabre he would forever be known for that part.

"When I was considered for Star Wars I hadn't done anything like that," recalls McGregor. "I had been making small, independent films in Britain with guys like Danny Boyle and I was happy and proud for that to be my future. So I did hesitate taking on a part that was so iconic."

Nowadays, however, McGregor is relaxed moving between independent filmmaking and bigger, studio-financed projects.

"I don't see it as being different to anything else. I just like telling stories. It doesn't matter if they are made by the studio or not. The studio stuff I've done, like The Island, has been very interesting."

Ewan :Man of Style:

"I don't know very much about fashion," declares this debonair Scotsman with a laugh. He may protest ignorance when it comes to the finer points of style, but McGregor is comfortable chatting about the national dress of his homeland. "I have lots of kilts [including] some traditional McGregor tartans," says the 39-year-old, who two years ago moved from London to Hollywood. "I left them all in storage in Britain. I could never wear a kilt in LA!" In Roman Polanski's new thriller, The Ghost Writer, McGregor plays an anonymous wordsmith penning the memoirs of a former British PM. So what might his own biography be called? "I've never considered writing it," insists the down-to-earth star. "I'm very happy with my life, but I don't think it would be of great interest to anyone else." We respectfully disagree. What clothes do you gravitate towards? "I like [English designer] Neil Barrett's clothes. His suits are classic and sharp, but you can also wear the jackets during the day." So, sleek and cool is your style now, but what about when you were younger? "I liked flamboyant stuff when I was younger. I remember in the '80s I had a big pair of baggy, multi-coloured trousers. I wore them with braces, a yellow shirt and orange pointy suede shoes. I'd like to replace those shoes, actually. I always keep my eye out [for similar styles]." You're facing a milestone birthday next year. Any anxiety about turning 40? "You're not the first person to ask me that. Forty next year—it's true! I don't really mind, but it's the first birthday that I've thought about. It's a presence." Describe your perfect weekend. "I like nothing better than to wake up on a Saturday morning with my wife and kids [Clara Mathilde, 14, Jamiyan, nine, and Esther Rose, eight] and then spend the weekend running them around: riding lessons, ballet lessons… On Sunday morning, I try to fit in a motorcycle ride and have breakfast at the Rock Store, a biker's haunt in the canyons above Malibu. Then a barbecue with family and friends." You're the only man in a house full of females. Do you have a room you can retreat to? "There is another boy in my house: Sid. He's my dog, my little buddy. My garage with my bikes and tools is where I find my peace and quiet. Sid lies under the counter while I tinker. I've got a motorbike with a sidecar, and he sits in there, too. I take him out in the sidecar as well. I've got a picture of him where he is ready to go with his goggles on. He loves it!" Pick up the latest issue of InStyle on newsstands now to read more of our interview with McGregor.