I had a nice little chat with Ewan McGregor for The Ghost. McGregor gives a thrilling performance as The Ghost, a successful writer who is hired to help a former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang, (played by Pierce Brosnan) finish his memoirs.
Since his breakout performance in Danny Boyles debut film Shallow Grave (I wish they would make another movie together), McGregor has gone on to work with some of the finest contemporary directors Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, George Lucas, Woody Allen and most recently, Roman Polanski, a filmmaker he describes as a legend.
Did you have to do any research for the character?
Ewan McGregor: I didnt do any. I didnt need to. I felt like when I read the script I knew exactly who the character was and I could really strongly see him. Sometimes its quite vague but in this case I felt I knew he was as soon as I read it. All of the details of who he was where there when I read the script the first time. I saw very strongly that it kept coming back to this adjective that hes unimpressed with everybody. Hes not that bothered.
Robert Harris was saying that you really had to flesh him and that you really brought the character to life..
Ewan McGregor: Well I dont agree. I think he was there on the page. At least I saw him very clearly when I read it. Theres not much back story to him in the book or in the screenplay but I still felt I knew who he was late 30s, a writer and all we know about him is that he went to Cambridge and he ghost writes celebrity books or maybe other books too. But the two we know about are the autobiography of some rock and roll guy because Olivias character (Ruth Lang) talks about that and then we know he wrote a book called I Came, I Sawed, I Conquered, which is the autobiography of a famous magician. So thats all we know about it. And the Cambridge thing, I thought wed play him with a Standard English accent. Fairly posh. And I find that accent quite difficult to do without feeling really posh and I thought it would be interesting if he was slightly down a notch, class wise and perceives himself to be already an outsider. But in amongst the ex prime minister of Great Britain an d his wife and his secretary and that hes even more out of place by making him sound like he came from London not that Im suggesting that there arent posh people in London and thats where I started from and then I was in the hands of Roman.
Did he have a lot of input into how you played the character?
Ewan McGregor: Absolutely. And the weird thing about him not being around to do press, and hes not going to be at the opening of the film in Berlin, is that I really feel more than most movies that hes as responsible for me playing the part the way I do as I am. Its completely wrapped up in him. Hes a taskmaster, quite tough. He pushes both you and the crew quite hard. He wants everyone to be as perfectionist as they can and to find colour and detail.
In what way is he a hard taskmaster?
Ewan McGregor: He just doesnt fuck about and youll be doing something and hell go, No, No, No! And your ego is dented. But once Id realised that hes like that with everyone and more so with people that he likes hes more polite with people he doesnt care for, I think, because its about the work. And after work hes a different man. Its not like Jekyll and Hyde or anything. I mean hes very gracious if youre ever in his company. Hes a very gracious host. He asks if you want a coffee and he looks after you. But when youre working hes all about the work and he tells it the way it is and I found that once Id got used to that and realised it wasnt me, it was just how he directs. Then I learned a great deal from him, more than other directors.
Working with Polanski has got to be a highlight for any actor. How did it start?
Ewan McGregor: I didnt meet Roman either until two days before we were starting to shoot, at a wardrobe fitting. Wed had a few conversations on the phone in advance, nothing in great depth. And I was making Men Who Stare At Goats and I was in the car park, we were shooting in the desert in New Mexico and I was on the phone to him and we talked a bit about casting and who he was looking for the ladies parts and I think Pierce was already on board and there was lots of pleasant stuff about looking forward to working with each other and then I said, well Roman is there anything you think I should be doing between now an the start of filming. Anything you want me to read or watch or think about? And he went, Uh. No. Get some rest. And Ill see you in January. And I did. I just turned up on set and there he was.
And then you plunged straight in
Ewan McGregor: Well, theres a huge amount of emphasis on the work and him putting the work together and taking you through it almost step by step in rehearsals and wed generally start in his trailer if there was a new scene or a new actor, because I was there from start to finish, all the time.. So I became like one of the crew and like, when Tom Wilkinson arrived wed meet in Romans trailer and hed make coffee for us all and then wed read through the scenes for as long as he thought it needed to be done and he was really pernickety at times. No, no, why would you say it like this? People would not say it like this! And youd go, Ok Roman, fucking hell. (laughs)
That sounds pretty intense
Ewan McGregor: I dont mean to paint a bad picture. Its just his way. He writes with a co writer- he wrote this with Robert and so hes seen the film in his head and acted it all out. So when he hears it, if its not quite right then it takes him a while to get it the way hes seen it in his head. Then wed take it onto the set, rehearse it a few times on the set and that could go on for a very long time or not, depending on how he felt it was. Then once we had the scene hed talk to the technicians about how to shoot it and sometimes that would take a long time and sometimes not and then once we started to shoot, generally speaking he was quite freeing, hed let us go. By which time everyone knew what he was after and once the camera were turning there was a freedom and a pace to it. But it was very fascinating the first day we shot 22 hours. First day of four month shoot and I went, Fuck. Four months of this. (laughs) And it was quite normal on a Friday just before the weekend to have a monster day 20 hour days were quite the norm.
Youve had an extraordinarily varied career. Is that the plan, to keep mixing it up?
Ewan McGregor: Youre right, Ive had a very varied career and Im very grateful for that. I feel lucky to have experienced all that I have; working with people like Tim, Ridley and Woody was just amazing. And now Ive worked with Roman and that was fantastic. Hes a legend. On my first day on set I couldnt take my eyes off him, Ive never examined a director and the way that they work, so much before. Hes brilliant, just brilliant, and absolutely warrants his reputation as a great director. Ive watched all of Romans films Rosemarys Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist, Ive seen them all. And its hard to predict what he will do next because they are all so different and I love that about a filmmaker. I can relate to that myself, because I love to keep mixing it up. But this was Polanski and he made Tess for goodness sake and I absolutely adore that film so it took me about a split second to say yes. But then you do wonder what its going to be like, what he is going to be like. And I wasnt disappointed, hes amazing.
Was your uncle (actor Denis Lawson) a really big influence on you becoming an actor?
Ewan McGregor: Yeah, definitely. I was so young when I wanted to be an actor, I was nine or something, and I just wanted to be like him. I wanted to be like my uncle Dennis. He would come back home to Crieff and he was this colourful, flamboyant character and I suppose I just wanted to be like my uncle and he was an actor and so that was it. And you know, theres lots of him in my acting I see lots of him. Im always calling him up and going fucking did you again today. And then when he sees the film well discuss what scenes he thought I was most like him (laughs). He was my only reference to acting when I was a kid.
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