BEAR NECESSITY
McGregor discovers joy of playing ‘Christopher Robin’
LOS ANGELES — Disney’s “Christopher Robin” takes the real boy made famous from his father A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” tales and imagines him as a burntout husband and father in late-1940s England. “Occasionally you play somebody real and then, like this, someone who was a child. I’ve done it both ways. I did it going younger in ‘Star Wars’ films, where you take somebody we know (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and try to reimagine them younger,” said Ewan McGregor, who stars as Christopher. In the film he magically reconnects with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and the other beloved characters of his youth.
“Here I was taking somebody we know as a child and imagining him older. The writing was very, very good and I felt I saw him very clearly when I read the script.”
Making “Christopher Robin,” McGregor, 47, recalled his own, long-forgotten childhood memories.
“I spent a lot time, as Christopher Robin did, as a child in the woods in the town I come from in Scotland called Crieff. It’s surrounded by a woodlands and I spent my childhood in the woods with my mates. Literally.
“We’d go off in the morning and come back at night. I don’t know what we did — I can’t remember — but it was fantastic fun.
“I had a pet, a dog, from quite an early age, a little beagle called Juno. Playing some of the scenes with Pooh reminded me of her and my relationship with my (current) dog Sid.
“When I lose my temper, which I rarely do with Sid, it’s because he’s chasing a squirrel or you’re trying to get him in the car.
“And in the movie, Christopher turns and Pooh is gone — and we have that lovely scene where we meet and reconcile again. It sort of reminds me of Sid! I don’t know why. Maybe it’s his little face or something.”
Pooh helps Christopher discover again the need for balance with his work and life with his wife and child.
Since filming, McGregor has rediscovered that in his own life.
“This year I’ve finally decided to take a long break, sort of by choice. It’s hard when you’re on that relentless work schedule, because sometimes when you stop you feel rudderless.
“I’ve really enjoyed that time off but,” he said with a laugh, “it’s taken me 47 years to get there.”