Ewan McGregor Talks "Trainspotting 2," and His (Originally) Bad French Accent for "Beauty and the Beast"

ABC/Randy Holmes (NEW YORK) — Actor Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut, the drama American Pastoral, opens in limited release Friday, but he will soon be seen in two much higher profile projects, a sequel to Trainspotting, in which he had his breakout role, and as Lumiere the candelabra in Disney’s upcoming Beauty and the Beast live-action film.

On Live with Kelly, McGregor told Kelly Ripa of the former film, which takes place two decades years after Danny Boyle’s original black comedy debuted, “We had a moment every day on set where where we called it, ‘the twenty years later moment’…because it would remind you every now and again, playing the same character, that that time had passed.”

The movie’s original core cast, including Robert Caryle, Jonny Lee Miller, and Ewen Bremner, all returned for the follow-up — though McGregor, who played Renton, couldn’t reveal to Ripa or her guest co-host Ciara if the characters were still doing drugs. But with a laugh, he acknowledged, “It was fun!”

As for Beauty and the Beast, which debuts next November with Emma Watson as Belle, McGregor said he had a tough time nailing Lumiere’s accent. “I’m married to a Frenchwoman for 20 years, my children speak French, and I was dreadful…It suddenly became very Mexican…I sort of did this this Mexican candelabra…But then we got a chance to re-do it again, and I made it a bit more French.”

The film, which McGregor says allowed even the CG characters to appear live, “at the end,” opens in March of 2017 from Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Trainspotting 2 opens in February of 2017. 

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on email
Email
Share on print
Print