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HOLLYWOOD – Ewan McGregor’s next films are surrounded by controversy. There’s Roman Polanski’s unfinished movie “The Ghost,” a thinly veiled indictment of Tony Blair.
The satirical “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” featuring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges, alleges that the U.S. military engaged in “psychic spying” against the Russians. And in “I Love You, Phillip Morris,” out in February, McGregor plays tonsil hockey with Jim Carrey. But first, he stars as the young All-American Gene Vidal (father of Gore) in “Amelia,” an Amelia Earhart biopic.
Q. You play Earhart’s lover in “Amelia,” but the part is fairly straightforward. What was the draw?
A. Hilary Swank, who plays Amelia, has been a good friend of mine for years, and we’ve always talked about working together. I suppose we kind of kept our eyes open for something. She called me about “Amelia” just as I arrived to start shooting “I Love You, Phillip Morris,” and we struggled for quite some time, but I really wanted to make it work dates-wise. So I literally made the two films at the same time, flying back and forth from Toronto.
Q. What was it like working with Polanski?
A. He pushes you quite hard and always demands that you look for the truth of the scene and pushes until you get there, until you stop acting it and you start feeling it. But he’s also got quite a brusque manner, so you have to have a thick skin. That said, I’m very fond of him. He’s one of the very few completely brilliant directors that I’ve worked with.
Q. Have you been following the news coverage about him?
A. No, I try not to. I was pretty upset. I don’t like to think of him sitting in a prison cell.
Q. How much of what goes on in “The Men Who Stare at Goats” do you think is true?
A. Most of it’s true! In fact, the most unbelievable parts of the film are the true ones. The mundane bits are the bits we made up. The journalist in Iraq – my story, the character I play – is an invention. But there was a rumor that the Russian psychics were bombarding the U.S. president with negative energy, and there was a group within the military trying to combat it. It’s crazy, but war is crazy.
Q. For actors, it looked like a good time.
A. My first scene with Jeff Bridges, we were supposed to be tripping on acid. We had these amazing contact lenses that made it look like our pupils were wide open, and we were waiting in this room that just so happened to have this old electric piano in it, and I remember Jeff got so excited. He was like, “Oh, man! They put this keyboard here so we can get into it!” And so he started playing these wild, trippy sound effects on the keyboard.
Q. Do you still get recognized for “Star Wars”?
A. It depends on where I am. At home in Scotland, it’s always for “Trainspotting,” but more often than not, I’m stopped in the street for the two motorcycle reality shows I did (titled “Long Way Round” in the U.S.).
Q. Is there anyone you really want to work with?
A. Yeah, I’ve never worked with Johnny Depp, and I’d really love to. Kate Winslet. Rebecca Hall. Directors, I don’t know. I’m odd with directors because I don’t have a kind of wish list. Daniel Day-Lewis?
Q. You think?
A. Daniel Day-Lewis has made me want to give up acting a lot. Whenever I watch him, I think, “What’s the point? There’s no point in carrying on. That’s it.” I remember watching “In the Name of the Father” and coming out of the cinema and burning my equity card and going “I’m finished.” There’s no way I can ever be that good, and it’s so depressing.
