Ewan McGregor already seeking next '˜great story' to direct

Ewan McGregor says he is hoping to forge a career behind the camera after making his directorial debut.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Oct 2016, 13:44 BST
Updated 25th Oct 2016, 20:34 BST

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Ewan McGregor said that his move into directing will not spell the end of his acting career. Picture: Anthony Devlin/PAEwan McGregor said that his move into directing will not spell the end of his acting career. Picture: Anthony Devlin/PA
Ewan McGregor said that his move into directing will not spell the end of his acting career. Picture: Anthony Devlin/PA

The Scottish actor is the star and director of American Pastoral, an adaptation of Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

McGregor, 45, joined co-stars Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning at the film’s Los Angeles premiere and revealed he was already looking for his next movie to direct.

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He told the Press Association: “Having done it for the first time, the responsibility of a feature film on your shoulders and one that’s based on this enormously popular Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is quite great.

“I wouldn’t just put myself out on the market now as ‘director for hire’ and accept scripts. I’d really be looking for a great story to tell.

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“I never want to give up acting because I love acting. I would like to direct again because I learnt I really love that as well.”

McGregor said he had worked with “70 directors” during his career and had seen “what works... and what doesn’t work”.

He added: “I learnt from the directors, some of them what not to do and from a lot of them what to do. The truth about directing is there’s no right or wrong way to do it.”

In American Pastoral, McGregor plays a man whose life is torn apart when his teenage daughter is accused of an act of political terrorism in 1960s America.

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The Trainspotting star said the fact he is not from the US did not influence the way he told the story.

“I don’t tell the story as a Scottish person or a European person but as a person,” he added.

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“I’ve played many, many characters in my career, maybe 3 per cent of them have been Scotsmen. I don’t see that my nationality should confine me in any way to just telling stories about Scotland.

“My mindset is my mindset. It doesn’t belong to Scotland or Europe, it’s my own.”

American Pastoral is released in UK cinemas on November 11.

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