Ewan McGregor's Real Name: Ewan Gordon McGregor

Quick answer: Ewan McGregor's full name is Ewan Gordon McGregor. He was born on March 31, 1971, in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. He broke through as Mark Renton in Trainspotting (1996) and played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the 2022 series Obi-Wan Kenobi. He won an Emmy for Halston (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files him as "McGregor, Ewan, 1971-." One citation reads "b. Ewan Gordon McGregor, March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, UK." Britannica confirms the date and place.

Britannica says he is the son of schoolteachers Carol (née Lawson) McGregor and James McGregor, who encouraged his interest in the arts. His brother, Colin, became a Royal Air Force fighter pilot. His uncle, actor Denis Lawson, played rebel pilot Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy. McGregor studied at several Scottish theaters and then spent nearly three years at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He left just before graduating when he was cast as Private Hopper in the TV musical miniseries Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), his first on-camera role.

Career highlights

He made his film debut in Being Human (1994) and starred that year in Danny Boyle's first feature, Shallow Grave. Boyle's Trainspotting (1996), from Irvine Welsh's novel, made both men international names. They also made A Life Less Ordinary (1997), fell out over The Beach, and later reunited for T2 Trainspotting (2017).

In Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (1999) he took on Alec Guinness's role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, repeating it in 2002 and 2005. He later voiced the character in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker. He showed his range in Velvet Goldmine (1998), Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! (2001) with Nicole Kidman, Black Hawk Down (2001), Big Fish (2003), Miss Potter (2006), and The Impossible (2012). He directed and starred in American Pastoral (2016).

On television he won a Golden Globe for playing two brothers in Fargo season three (2017) and an Emmy for Halston (2021). He starred in A Gentleman in Moscow (2024). On stage he played Sky Masterson in a West End Guys and Dolls (2005) and made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing (2014). With friend Charley Boorman he rode motorcycles around the world for the series Long Way Round, Long Way Down, and Long Way Up.

Name notes for searchers

Gordon is his middle name. McGregor is spelled with "Mc," not "Mac," in LOC and Britannica. He has always acted under his birth first name and surname.