Ewan McGregor on 'Trainspotting' Sequel: 'I Would Be Up for It'
The chances of seeing Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud altogether again on the big screen may be a step closer after Ewan McGregor said he would be keen to star in a sequel to cult hit Trainspotting.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Film Festival, the Scotsman reports that McGregor said he had patched up his differences with director Danny Boyle, a major hindrance to any sequel being made and described the opportunity to work with the original cast and director again as “extraordinary.” He added that any follow-up film could be the next movie that could take him back to shooting in Scotland.
“It might be the film that brings me back. I would be up for it, I’ve said that to Danny. Everybody has talked about it and speculated about it, but I don’t if it’s happening yet. I’ve not seen a script and I don’t know if there is one,“ said McGregor.
Based on the book by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting was the story of heroin addiction in the deprived parts of Edinburgh and made a star of McGregor and proved to be breakout roles for Robert Carlyle, Ewen Bremner and Jonny Lee Miller.
The film was the second of three collaborations between Boyle and McGregor, who also made Shallow Grave and A Life Less Ordinary together, but the pair famously fell out after the director cast Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead in The Beach, a part that was originally intended for McGregor.
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On the subject of his relationship with Boyle, McGregor said: "It’s been a long, long time. I just think I’ve changed my opinion about it. We’ve all moved on and there is a lot of water under the bridge now.”
He added: “I miss working with Danny, I did some of my best work with him and he’s one of my favorite directors I’ve worked with. There was some bad blood and ill feeling, but that’s all gone now. I think it might be extraordinary to see a sequel 20 years after the original.”
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Pressed on the issues that broke his and Boyle’s close working relationship, McGregor said: “For years and years, I was [Boyle, Hodge, MacDonald’s] actor. It was more important to me than anything and it defined who I am as an actor. It set the bar very high for me and I’m always looking for that connection, that trust and the power of what you can come out with. You’ve no idea where it is coming from.“
The idea of a sequel to Trainspotting has been around since the author of the original books, Welsh, wrote Porno, the literary follow-up. McGregor has for years dismissed any suggestion of working on the project, but two years ago serious talk arose that Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge and producer Andrew MacDonald were working on a loose adaptation of Porno.
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Watch the ‘Trainspotting’ trailer:
