McGregor about his Mustache, How Daughter Clara “Keeps Her Old Dad in Work” and Why Action Blockbusters Require “Endurance”
Despite handsome looks and real acting chops, Ewan McGregor has never become a bona fide star or A-list actor. Nonetheless, the gifted thespian has been working steadily for over three decades.
The actor discussed You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder during a press conference at the Karlovy Vary film festival the day after it honored him with its President’s Award.
McGregor discussed blockbuster movies, why he is currently sporting a mustache, and hopefully making more movies with his daughter Clara during a Sunday press conference at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Fest.
He can be seen in Emma Westenberg-directed You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder, in which the McGregors star opposite each other.
The daughter and father both predicted more collaborations on Sunday. You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder premiered at South by Southwest.
It is road trip drama, inspired by the duo’s real-life stories. Clara co-wrote the script with Vera Bulder and Ruby Caster. “I’m just anticipating them writing me lots of roles,” Ewan McGregor told the press. “It’s a very good way to keep her old dad in work.”
With the actor having moved between tentpole and smaller independent movies throughout his career, he could also provide insight into some of the differences for talent. “Some of the bigger action-type films are slower,” he said. “It’s an exercise in endurance to keep your performance and your acting where you want it to be.” After all, action sequences are often shot in “tiny moments,” while for a smaller movie “when you have got a camera following you around for three minutes, it’s easier to lose yourself in it.” He shared that he was “still always trying to find this feeling in my work. I want it to feel real and truthful.”
Asked about moving between small independent features and big studio projects, McGregor said, “If you are working on an action sequence, it’s [made in] tiny moments. When you’ve got a camera following you around for three minutes [on a smaller film], it’s easier to lose yourself in it.”
McGregor has been shooting the Paramount+ miniseries Gentleman in Moscow, which he is also producing, in Manchester since early this year, with “another month to go,” he said in an update on its progress. Based on a novel by Amor Towles, the series features McGregor as a nobleman held in a hotel room after the Russian Revolution.
His current mustache is for this role, but it has changed over the course of filming, McGregor noted. “This is my older, smaller mustache,” he explained. “At the beginning [my character] has got a big, monster, curly one.” Concluded McGregor: “You are seeing the better side of it.”
The 57th edition of the festival runs through July 8, with a jury that includes Patricia Clarkson.
