From life during Quarantine to Hello There, the Musical? Ewan McGregor sits down for a live YouTube Interview.
This past December, Ewan McGregor fans were given a long-awaited gift when he was announced as a guest for the ACE Comicon Convention to be held in March. McGregor rarely makes fan appearances and fans from all of the country, and the world were planning to attend for a coveted photo-op and auto. Then came COVID-leading to the eventual cancellation and a lot of devastated fans. So, when ACE announced the free live YouTube panel with Ewan, everyone was thrilled. Ewan sat down and chatted with ACE’s Angelique Roche’ (live from the separate homes) last night and discussed topics ranging from life during quarantine to the upcoming Disney Plus “Kenobi” series.
At the start of the interview, Ewan spoke about how COVID-19 had impacted his life and recounted how his projects were impacted by the shelter in place orders. Ewan had been shooting the Netflix series “Simply Halston” in NYC when COVID forced the production halt. It is unclear when they can resume, but Ewan indicated they were only about halfway through the 3-month shoot. Simply Halston covers the life of Roy Halston Frowick, an iconic American fashion designer.
Upon his sudden departure from NYC and return to home in LA Ewan jumped into various DYI projects including gardening and working on his motorcycles and cars. Rocche’ asked what in his life had changed because of quarantine. McGregor’s response was “What’s changed is everything. I reestablished a sense of joy-enjoyed time at home and with my family. It’s taught me to relax and enjoy the moment.” Relaxing is something McGregor admitted to having difficulty with. Having been in roughly 70 film and theatrical projects including feature films, shorts, documentaries, TV shows, musicals and plays since the start of his career in 1993, relaxation is something he has not had much time for.
McGregor has some highly anticipated upcoming projects and spent time discussing those with Roche’. He is starring as Jiminy Cricket in Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pinocchio.” While his voice recording for the stop-frame animation film is complete, he did surprise everyone saying, “There may or may not be a song that needs to be recorded.” That admission was music to everyone’s ears as Ewan’s fans have been hoping to hear him sing again.
In reference to Ewan’s interest in revisiting musicals after his huge success with “Moulin Rouge” and the Guys and Dolls production in London, he was quick to make his interest clear. “I haven’t been offered any,” he admitted. Ewan expressed interest in what he calls the “new kind of musical movie” and referenced the film “Once” and the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” as examples. Let’s hope some producers were listening and his agent gets a call with an offer!
A significant time of the interview was spent discussing the upcoming Kenobi show. Smiling, McGregor said, “I’m excited about it-playing a character you know and love from before-from another part of your life- now.” McGregor, 49, joked about how he was closer to Alec Guinness’s age in “A New Hope” now (but not too close). He had been watching some of Guinness’s films to prepare for the series as well. While McGregor could not provide many details about Kenobi, he did confirm that shooting was due to start early next year. Deborah Chow, who has directed some “Mandalorian” episodes, will be directing “Kenobi.”
Ewan could not praise “The Mandalorian” enough and also noted that he had visited their set for an afternoon to check out the visual effects technology since it will be used for Kenobi as well. There is currently no official title for the “Kenobi” series, but Ewan was in awe of some of the fan ideas and art. He noted one poster, naming the show “Hello There.” In some truly memorable moments of the interview, “Hello there, the Musical” was determined to be the working title with the opening song “In a Galaxy Far, Far Away” and stormtroopers dancing in the chorus. Quite the mental picture that painted!
Other topics that were discussed were the improvised lines in some scenes of “Birds of Prey.” McGregor noted that much of the scene between himself and Robbie’s Harley Quinn while looking at his mask collection was improvised. Also, he noted, there is footage of fully improvised scenes between Zsasz and Sionis while in his apartment, playing hide and seek, that were never included in the film. He hoped at some point they would be released.
McGregor answered a few fan questions. One referenced his movie “Christopher Robin” and required that Winnie the Pooh come out and answer. He grabbed his often visible Pooh Bear and addressed the question for him because Pooh “hadn’t gotten permission from his agent” to respond. The moment prompted some tears around the corners of Roche’s eyes.
McGregor indicated he was hoping a project to direct would “find him” at some point in the near future. Having directed a period piece, American Pastoral, in 2016, Ewan is hoping to find something “looser” and more urban, like “Trainspotting.” In another question, he was asked what a source of inspiration to him throughout his career was. He quickly pointed to his Uncle Denis Lawson, who played Wedge Antilles in “Star Wars.”
While not discussed, McGregor finished filming a movie with his daughter Clara called the “Birthday Cake.” Also starring Val Kilmer and Penn Gadley, McGregor plays a Priest in the mob crime drama. It is unclear when the film will be released, but the production is complete.
In closing, Ewan hoped he would be able to sign autos and talk to fans in person soon-more music to the ears of his many fans that want another Con Opportunity. ACE is coordinating a send in Autograph service where fans can get an item signed through a partner store. Information can be found at ACE COMIC CON.
For fans that want to follow Ewan’s current and future projects and upcoming fan appearances, join “Ewan McGregor Fan Event Appearances and Projects Watch” on Facebook. The group also screens a McGregor film every week through the free online application KAST. For more information email Michelle at michellehaab.com or visit the Facebook group.
Written by Michelle Haab
