Scots actor Mcgregor ‘too pretty’ to play heroin addict

Perth-born Hollywood star Ewan Mcgregor was originally viewed as being “too pretty” to play heroin addict Renton in Trainspotting, the film’s producer has revealed.

Mcgregor, 49, who grew up in Crieff, was catapulted to global stardom after starring as Mark Renton in the 1996 film adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s cult novel.

Now 25 years after the film’s release, producer Andrew Macdonald has told how casting Mcgregor caused great controversy at the time.

Macdonald and director Danny Boyle were keen to work with Mcgregor after the actor starred in their hit movie debut Shallow Grave.

He said that while Trainspotting co-stars Robert Carlyle, who played psycho Francis Begbie, and Peter Mullan, who played drug dealer Swanney, had reality “oozing out of every vein”, some people felt Mcgregor was too handsome to play the troubled lead.

Speaking on BBC Scotland series The Years That Changed Modern Scotland, to be screened tomorrow at 10pm, Macdonald said: “A friend of mine gave me the book when we were finishing Shallow Grave. It was the same thing for me – it was about young people. I loved the fact that it was written in the vernacular and it was funny.

“You cannot imagine Trainspotting without Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan. They had reality oozing out of every vein and that’s something that, particularly on film and television, you die for.

“We had Ewan Mcgregor early on. We made that decision which was very controversial because lots of people saw it as it had to be really grungy and they thought Ewan was too handsome, too attractive, too pretty.”

Mcgregor first took to the stage at Perth Theatre aged 16 in 1987, and was a vocal ambassador of the Transform Perth Theatre project in 2016.

Mcgregor famously lost two stone in weight and shaved off most of his hair to play the skinny addict.

He also learned how to “cook up” heroin, using glucose powder, from recovering addicts at the Calton Athletic Recovery Group in Glasgow.

Trainspotting was made for £1.5 million, but raked in more than £12m at the domestic box office alone, and was a global hit, catapulting Scottish cast including Mcgregor, Carlyle, Ewen Bremner, Kevin Mckidd and Kelly Macdonald to international stardom.

Macdonald added: “It was cool to be Scottish after Trainspotting and Braveheart because the Scottish culture thing, the myths are so strong. You can either sort of do the Brigadoon one or you can do the Trainspotting one but they are all sort of myths really about Scotland and I knew that that could sell.

“There was definitely a moment there in the south of England and in California and these places, it was very cool to be Scottish and we had a strong identity.”

HANDSOME: Ewan Mcgregor lost weight and shaved off most of his hair to play skinny heroin addict Mark Renton in the film adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s cult novel.

A scene in Trainspotting.