My top ten reasons for loving Ewan are:

1. He is a remarkably talented actor (that pretty much goes without saying);
2. He can sing!  (witness his performances in “Moulin Rouge”, “Down With Love” and “Velvet Goldmine”);
3. He has an admirable penis which he has no trouble showing off in movies (don’t miss “Trainspotting”, “The Pillow Book”, “Velvet Goldmine” and “Young Adam”!);
4. He is very cute;
5. He is an activist and a UNICEF ambassador;
6. He is a family man, married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis, and father to three children including his biological daughters Clara (11) and Esther (6) and his adopted Mongolian daughter, Jamiyan (7), but is very careful that they not be photographed or seen on television in order to respect their privacy;
7. He traveled around the world on a motorcycle with his best friend and fellow actor Charley Boorman and created a fantastic documentary mini-series called “Long Way Round” about their experiences;
8. He’s Scottish and looks fab in a kilt;
9. He has a luminescent smile;
10. He has a very infectious laugh!

Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Crieff, Scotland to incredibly supportive, teacher parents – James and Carol – who actually encouraged him to leave school at the age of 16 to pursue his acting career.  He worked as a stagehand at the Perth Repertory Theatre, studied drama for a year at Kirkcaldy College of Technology in Fife and spent three years enrolled at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Daniel Craig.  He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster, in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2001.  It was Ewan’s uncle, actor Dennis Lawson who inspired him to become an actor and ironically Lawson starred as Wedge Antilles in the original three episodes of “Star Wars”.

Ewan got his start in British television and the 1993 film “Being Human” but I first discovered him in Danny Boyle’s 1994 work of genius, “Shallow Grave”.  Ever since, I have watched McGregor in almost every film he’s made except for the last two episodes of the Star Wars prequel in which he portrays Obi-wan Kenobi because I hated Jar Jar Binks in the first one and think that character is way too annoying to endure again.  (Eventually, I’ll probably cave in and watch them too.)

Ewan is a very prolific, charismatic and courageous actor who has starred in some of the most interesting films ever made including Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting” (1996) in which he lost 30 lbs to more closely resemble a heroin addict.  Ewan was even strip searched by an airport customs inspector because he recognized him from the film!  The same year he made “The Pillow Book” for director Peter Greenaway and earned a legion of new female fans by appearing naked throughout most of his scenes.  We’re talking full frontal, ladies!

"I'm doing my bit for the women's movement. The women have always been naked in movies and now I'm just desperate to take my clothes off as much as possible."

"It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing."

Ewan is believable in every character he originates, whether he’s naked or wearing a period costume.  He starred in the historical/costume dramas “Emma” (1996) with Gwyneth Paltrow, “The Serpent’s Kiss” (1997) during which he met his best mate Charley, “Nora” (2000) in which he portrayed James Joyce alongside Susan Lynch and also co-produced the film, and again in “Miss Potter” (2006).  After making Todd Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine” in 1998 where he starred as Curt Wild (a figure not so loosely based on Iggy Pop), Ewan was quoted as saying that he got fond of wearing nail polish and eye makeup.  He can pull it off too!

Ewan splits his time on screen between interesting, arty, indie films like “Brassed Off”, “Nightwatch”, “A Life Less Ordinary” (again for Danny Boyle), “Little Voice”, “Rogue Trader”, “Eye of the Beholder”, “Young Adam”, “Stay” (a really intelligent and interesting film co-starring Ryan Gosling), “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker” and “Scenes of a Sexual Nature” and big budget studio pictures such as “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”, “Moulin Rouge!” (He was brilliant!), “Black Hawk Down”, “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clines”, “Down With Love”, “Big Fish” (another Tim Burton gem and excellent performance by Ewan), “Robots” and “Valiant” (voice work), “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and “The Island”.

Ewan formed a production company with his friends Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee, former roommate Jude Law and Jude’s ex-wife Sadie Frost called Natural Nylon so that they could make unconventional films that do not conform to Hollywood standards.  I applaud them for that!  He also narrated a Scottish series called “JetSet” which followed the lives of student pilots and navigators at RAF Lossiemouth as they endured a grueling six month course to learn to fly Tornado GR4’s which are the Royal Air Force’s primary attack aircraft.  Ewan’s older brother Colin is a Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force.

Coming up next, Ewan stars in Woody Allen’s “Cassandra’s Dream” with Colin Farrell.  It’s “the story of two Cockney brothers in South London and their relationship with a young woman who lands in London on her search for fortune.  She crosses the two men by accident on her path and when one them falls in love with her, she becomes aware of her power to attract the opposite sex and uses this to the point of leading the two brothers, who are in financial difficulty, into crime, and creating a dangerous rivalry between the two men.” (source: IMDB.com)  Can’t wait for that!  Ewan has no less than eight films currently in various stages of production.  This is a man who will undoubtedly achieve a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award.

Somehow, Ewan has also found the time to embark on a second extraordinary, 15,000 mile, three month long motorcycle journey with Charley Boorman.  This time the pair, who started their route May 17th, are traveling from Scotland’s most northerly point at John O’Groats down through Europe to Africa and will be publicizing the work of UNICEF along the way.  The resulting documentary mini-series will be called “The Long Way Down” and I will be buying it for my Ewan McGregor DVD collection.  I’m a firm believer that every serious movie fan should have one!

For all things Ewan and more, check out the following websites: www.longwaydown.com, www.bestofewan.com, www.ewanmcgregoronline.com, and www.ewanspotting.com.