Richard Foreman(NEW YORK) — Ewan McGregor’s newest film — and his directorial debut — American Pastoral, is set in 1968, and has the Scottish actor playing a New Jersey man whose daughter tears their family apart when she falls in with political radicals and becomes a domestic terrorist. He says to cover up his native accent, he took inspiration from an unlikely source: Goodfellas star Ray Liotta.
McGregor told Live with Kelly’s Kelly Ripa, “I listened to him doing an…interview about this movie that he produced. And I would listen to him before I went on, because he’s…from the right place, he had the right accent. So I listened to a bit of Ray.”
American Pastoral is based on the Phillip Roth bestseller. While it’s a period piece, McGregor says the family’s struggle is timeless.
“I wanted very much for the period not to be a barrier…I felt very much for these characters when I read the script, and I think we feel very much for the characters when we watch the movie,” he explained. “And some…movies…if the period is in your face, it becomes a barrier between yourself and the people that you’re watching. And I think we achieved that.”
American Pastoral, which also stars Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, Emmy winner Uzo Aduba, andDakota Fanning, is currently in limited release but will open in additional theaters in the coming weeks.
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