Many great actors have filmed provocative scenes that they’d rather their families didn’t watch, but Ewan McGregor was thrilled to show his children the grossest scene of his career.
Addressing press at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (via Variety), the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” star opened up about the joys of introducing his kids to his filmography. He took particular pleasure in showing his daughter the infamous scene in “Trainspotting” where he plunges into the aptly nicknamed “worst toilet in Scotland” to retrieve some heroin.
“I wasn’t there when [my daughter] Clara watched ‘Trainspotting’ for the first time,” McGregor said. “But I did used to show my kids the toilet scene. Just for a laugh. It’s a unique situation, perhaps, for a father to be able to show his children footage of him going down the toilet.”
“Trainspotting” wasn’t the only movie from McGregor’s filmography that he used to traumatize his children. The actor also showed his daughter Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” at a young age, recalling that she enjoyed the film despite some of the suggestive content.
“I have a memory of showing Clara ‘Moulin Rouge!,’ however,” he said. “I think she was nine years old. I put it on, and then I hear this wailing and crying. I rushed in, asking if I should switch it off and she went ‘Nooo!’”
The shock value that the “Trainspotting” scene still offers in 2023 is a testament to the film’s enduring quality. Danny Boyle’s cult classic, which spawned a well-received 2017 sequel, is still considered one of the most entertaining movies about addiction ever made. Boyle has said he attributes that to his decision to portray the effects of heroin use as something considerably different than what people experience in real life.
“I think if you’re being honest, the first film resembled more MDMA drug abuse than actual heroin abuse,” Boyle said in a 2017 interview with IndieWire. “The adrenaline of the film was much greater, whereas heroin abuse is obviously a very dull subject to actually look at – not much happens. People just stall in the corner, really, or go fairly soporific.”
