Born on March 31, 1971 in Crieff, Scotland, Ewan McGregor is an actor who many consider to be among the best in the business, appearing as the lead in Transpotting, the Star Wars trilogy prequel, and in Moulin Rouge. Born to two teachers, McGregor went to the independent fee-paying school Morrison’s Academy. He eventually attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study drama. Even before graduating, he bagged the lead in a six-part BBC series Lipstick on Your Collar. He made his feature film debut in Being Human in 1993. The thriller Shallow Grave followed and earned him a Empire Award, plus widespread praise. He became internationally known in the 1996 film Trainspotting.
After Trainspotting, McGregor started being cast in Hollywood films playing mostly male romantic leads, such as in Moulin Rouge and Down with Love. He also starred in a couple of British films Little Voice and Young Adam, both of which earned him excellent reviews. What followed was the role of a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In 2006, he was offered to play James Bond in Casino Royale but he declined because he didn’t want to be typecast.
McGregor is also known for one of the few major actors who had done several full-front nudity in many of his films, including Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book, and Young Adam. Two of these films, he played a gay or bisexual character. He had also lent his voice to two animated features, Robots and Valiant. In 2005, meanwhile, he played two roles in The Island. He also dabbled in theater, in Guys and Dolls, where he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Beginning 2007, he starred in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse. McGregor is also a huge motorcycle enthusiast.