“Pretty fucking brutal!”: the drastic measures that made Ewan McGregor undeniable for his defining role
When Ewan McGregor was starting out in the industry, he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from becoming the dedicated, versatile actor he wanted to be… he’d take drastic measures if he had to.
The actor made waves when he appeared in Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave, playing one of a small group of university students who discover loads of cash in their new housemate’s room, alongside his dead body. You couldn’t forget McGregor’s presence, arrogant and lacking in empathy, as he insists on burying the body and keeping the money.
He clearly had what it took to play a challenging role – one so far-removed from himself – but would he have what was needed for Boyle’s next project, Trainspotting? Boyle was pretty set on having McGregor back for his film about heroin-addicted youngsters in Edinburgh, even though the actor didn’t exactly look like someone who had scraped the bottom of life’s dirty barrel for a hit.
McGregor’s agent wasn’t keen on him taking on the role of Renton, who had first been introduced in Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel of the same name. Everyone believed in McGregor, though, and while he went away to film something else, he set his sights on getting the characterisation of Renton right. He didn’t even have official confirmation of the job yet. “I knew it would be something special,” the actor explained (via Trainspotting by Jay Glennie).
He was convinced that he had to “play this part,” so he switched up his diet so he could shed enough weight to look like the archetypal heroin addict. It wasn’t the safest thing to do; while working on other projects, he was cutting out major food groups and switching beer for endless glasses of gin. But he wanted to become Renton.
When he arrived at the meeting, which determined his fate, considerably skinnier and set on helping Boyle bring Trainspotting to life, he was delighted to discover that he had got the part. His dedication to the role wasn’t over, though – he went one step further in proving that he was the right man for the job, and immediately went and shaved off all his hair.
“I just shaved my hair off; pretty fucking brutal! I returned with a shaven head. It was literally the only fucking role for me,” the actor said. Boyle chimed in, “I couldn’t fucking believe it! He had shaved off all his hair. Not a George-Clooney-cool-and-attractive crop, but a fucking brutal down-to-the-skin shave that obviously looked like he’d done it himself. It shows you how committed he was, but his agent at the time must have been fucking livid!”
McGregor knew that if he wanted to do the role justice, he’d have to really commit to it. So, he dropped the weight, lost his hair, and immersed himself in the world of the heroin addict – well, without actually doing any. He merely observed local addicts when he was out and about, studying their mannerisms and trying to understand how people end up on the streets with nothing but the desire for another hit to keep them going.
Trainspotting was a huge success, and it remains one of the most beloved British films ever made, with its Britpop soundtrack bursting with energy – that iconic opening sequence and ‘Choose life’ monologue seared into the minds of everyone who has ever watched it. It’s brutal at times, but it’s a masterpiece of a film, with no holds barred. As funny as it is tragic, at the heart of the film is McGregor’s incredible portrayal of Renton, which marked him out as an undeniable star.
