Ewan’s explosion onto the scene timed perfectly with the arrival of another exciting new voice in British cinema. While the six-part drama Lipstick on Your Collar (1993) marked Ewan’s screen debut, it was his vibrant collaboration with filmmaker Danny Boyle that catapulted him to international stardom. As Danny’s trilogy of hits, Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), and A Life Less Ordinary (1997) injected a much-needed adrenalin shot in the arm of our homegrown storytelling, Ewan’s captivating performances in those films would help redefine the makeup of the modern leading man.
He can be the steely action hero, as demonstrated by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the blockbusting Star Wars franchise (1999-2022) or in Michael Bay thrill-ride The Island (2005). He excels as a treacherous villain: Angels & Demons (2009) and Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020). He can play flamboyant and charming: Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Big Fish (2003). He can be outrageous and overt: the Iggy Pop-inspired Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine (1998). But he is perhaps at his best in more grounded, often more intimate stories: Brassed Off (1996), Little Voice (1998), Young Adam (2003), Miss Potter (2006), Fargo (2017), Halston (2021), Bleeding Love (2023), and A Gentleman in Moscow (2024), to name a few from Ewan’s 100-plus film and TV credits.
He has also become a familiar face in factual TV, with his entertaining travelogue series with friend Charley Boorman, A Long Way… (2004-2025), now in its fourth series. Their most recent adventure, The Long Way Home (2025), saw the pair ride vintage motorbikes from Ewan’s home in Scotland to Charley’s place in London, but, as the title suggests, it was far from an uneventful trip down the M1, taking them all over Europe.
