Ewan McGregor

[Nelle]

Der Artikel aus dem "OUT Magazine" (die Bilder daraus habe ich schon gepostet):

OPENING:
In his new film, Down With Love, Ewan McGregor plays the kind of role made famous by Rock Hudson. He sat down to discuss the character, how he loves playing gay, and why Star Wars didn't live up to his expectations. We also reveal the secrets behind a very lucky piece of terry cloth.

ARTICLE:
EWAN MCGREGOR IS IN A TOWEL. That's it. Just a towel. As I walk onto Stage 4 at the Hollywood Center Stages, where this spring's romantic comedy Down With Love is filming, I hit the elaborate set of the Know magazine offices. McGregor; as womanising journalist Catcher Block, is filming a scene with David Hyde Pierce, who plays his best friend and neurotic boss. Did I mention he was in a towel?

"He's been working out with a trainer for weeks now," confides Dan Jinks, who is producing the film with business partner Bruce Cohen (the Out lOO alums won the Academy Award or producing American Beauty). "He looks incredible." "I've never been less naked in almost any film I’ve ever been in," racks McGregor after filming for the day is complete. We're sitting at an umbrella table outside his dressing room. Wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans, and cute camouflage sneakers, the actor, long familiar to queer audiences for gay moments in The Pillow Book and Velvet Goldmine, is now fully clothed and smoking the first of many American Spirit cigarettes. "Usually I've got all my kit off, and I've never bothered working out," he says. "He's supposed to be this macho playboy guy," says Jinks of McGregor character. "We wanted to accentuate the leading-man bodv."

In Down With Love, McGregor is taking on the type of role that was created by another famous leading man: Rock Hudson. The film, set in 1963 Manhattan, is an homage to the Rock Hudson-Doris Day films of that era, sum as Pillow Talk (whim, coincidentally, was made by gay producer Ross Hunter) and Lover Come Back. Renee Zellweger plays Barbara Novak, an author whose book, Down With Love, encourages women to act more like men. McGregor’s Block is determined to prove that the book is a fraud by seducing Novak. And in the fashion of the films of that time, mistaken identity, double entendres, and lots of fabulous costumes add to the mix.

Unlike most of today's movies, Love is filming entirely on Hollywood soundstages, with just four days on the Universal back lot for exteriors -- no shooting in New York City. But the Los Angeles production is a blessing for McGregor, whose wife, Eve Mavrakis, and daughters, Clara and Esther, flew over from England for the duration of filming.

"It's the nicest thing," says McGregor, a native of Scotland. "It as great to come to L.A. and get a bit of sun. I love the routine. Leaving them in the morning, going to work, and going back to them. It's like real life."

Growing up, McGregor was a fan of the films to which Love tips its hat. “I used to watch them all as a kid,” he recalls. “Rock Hudson seemed to be breezing through them and having a good time. When he laughs, it looks like it's him having a great laugh. So I tried to follow suit."

"Ewan is a godsend," enthuses openly gay screenwriter Dennis Drake, who penned the script with writing partner Eve Ahlert. "What he brings to this immediately from day one is the energy and brightness, which is a real gift for light comedy." What Ewan has in common with Rock Hudson’s screen persona," notes Jinks, "is that he's a guy who women find incredibly attractive-along with gay men-and he also makes men feel incredibly comfortable. He really is a ladies' man and a guy's guy."

"But at the same time," notes McGregor of the gay matinee idol, "it's never been my job to portray Rock Hudson. But the idea that Rock Hudson would have been offered this type of part, it's a huge thrill for me." And it's a thrill he provides for his costars as well. "He gives so much and he's so good at what he does," gushes Renee Zellweger. “And that towel. He's a wonderful person and a nice guy and fun ...and the towel! That poor man endured so much harassment from Sarah [Paulson, who costars] and myself. And every day you go to work and there's his gorgeous, really smart, multilingual wife with their two gorgeous children. A wonderful family."

Many members of the creative team for the film were "family" too. Along with Jinks, Cohen, and Drake, out costume designer Daniel Orlandi oversaw over 1,000 costumes for the film, including 28 for Zellweger (and she's only in 25 scenes!). "It is a dream project," says Orlandi, who began his Hollywood career working with Bob Mackie on Pennies From Heaven in 1980. "I told Renee that I've been waiting since I was 6 years old to design this movie."

Walking around the set, the design element radiates fabulous ness, from the elaborate bachelor pad Ewan’s Block inhabits to Know magazine's airy offices to the pink director's chairs the cast and crew sit in during breaks. "I believe we are the only studio film to have had pink director's chairs," Cohen beams proudly. With the costumes, the creative team, and the chairs, this could be the gayest film ever made without a gay character.

"It was a thin line, on everything with this film, between bringing something delightful and contemporary to audiences of today and keeping within the realm of the world of 1963. We're trying to come up with entertainment that is true to those movies and that period but will be completely embraced by gay audiences," Cohen observes. But while the writers, who also worked on Will & Grace, claim the film doesn’t have a gay sensibility ("Quite frankly, I would have to say not," states Ahlert, with Drake adding, "We don’t know what that means, necessarilly), the producers disagree. "This movie has so many elements a gay audience will love," says Cohen. "Spectacular sets, costumes oozing with glamour, the whole early-'6os bachelor-martini thing. That's all there."

Of course, gay audiences have long been loving McGregor, known for hot man-on-man action in films like The Pillow Bookand Velvet Goldmind -- Something he never thought twice about.

"I remember I heard Sharon Stone once say, 'I'll never do nudity again,' " he says. "I just question that. As an actor you should be excited to portray anything and everything. It was weird with me and the Japanese guy in The Pillow Book because it was the first time I'd ever done a gay sex scene. But it was just as strange for me the first time I had to do a straight sex scene-, there's really no difference. And I loved it."

In fact, he talks about it all the time. On a break while taping a television show in Britain, the host said he'd be asking about filming that scene in The Pillow Book. "I thought they were changing videotapes, and I ended the break saying, 'I'm going to have to find a way to answer that without using the words 'smooth, leathery scrotum.' I thought they were changing tapes, but when it aired on television, they included that." So how does "smooth, leathery scrotum' come up in conversation? "That's all I could remember about it," shrugs the actor, taking another drag off his cigarette. "I have quite the memory of his scrotum, for some reason. I don’t know why.”

Clearly this is a man with few hang-ups. "I've never been really worried about being masculine," he admits. "I know it's a very popular thing -- especially in America – to not want to be seen as a homosexual. But I thought it was kind of exciting." Exciting on-screen but not in real life. "Any gay experiences?" he puzzles when I ask him if he's ever jumped the fence. "No. Unfortunately not."

But that hasn’t stopped him from defying stereotypes. The actor gladly admits he enjoys wearing a little eye makeup. "I wear eyeliner a lot," he confesses. It's something he picked up during Velvet Goldmine. "It was the first time I wore those smoky eyes and nail varnish and stuff I just like it," he says. "A lot of actors walk around pretending they don’t wear makeup, and we all wear makeup. There's nobody walking down the red carpet who’s not fucking covered."

No doubt he'll be covered once again (along with a beard and tasteful mullet) for Episode III of the Star Wars saga, in which he plays Jedi master Obi-wan Kenobi. The blockbusters, he says, haven’t really changed his life. "If anything," he says, "it didn’t live up to my expectations. I thought it would catapult me up the ladder a bit. It didn’t at all -- which is fine. It's been great, but I don’t get mobbed."

Which has to be kind of a disappointment, given how much work goes into making those films. "I know I talk about how difficult they are to make," he says as he gets up from the table, heading off in his silver Porsche to see his family. "But I'm playing to midair. I'm reacting to what a character might do -- and I don’t even know what it looks like! But I still love being in them. And I love the fact that kids can see me in films and come chat with me about them."

But before he returns to the Jedi knights, he's playing the younger version of Albert Finney’s character in the fantastic drama Big Fish, also produced by Jinks and Cohen. Some audience members might be disappointed to know he doesn’t wear a towel in this film.

"I worked very closely with the production designer, and everything is color-coordinated," states designer Orlandi, insisting that the towel -- which was made, not bought -- is no joking matter. "The set decorator picked the color for the towel, and then we tried it on Ewan to make sure it looked good."

And how many movies will create a towel for their actors? "Very few," sighs Orlandi. "Very few." .

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

Gnomeo and Juliet

Dark Horizons reports:


People News reports that Dame Judi Dench and Kate Winslet are set to provide the voices for a new Disney animated film about garden gnomes. An adaptation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", this somewhat light-hearted romantic comedy version of the famous tragedy will have Winslet playing Juliet and Dame Judi her nurse with the setting an English backyard. Sir Elton John, whose production company Rocket Pictures is making it, will write the score for the film in collaboration with Sir Tim Rice. Thanks to Discover Kate.

What's the Ewan connection?

According to a source close to Ewan News, Ewan would do the voice of Romeo!

Keep in mind that at this point Ewan hasn't signed to do this project and it's not a done deal, but Ewan and Elton know and like each other and would probably enjoy working together.

Also, wenn das nicht geil wäre. Dann müsste man sich den Film nur noch in der OV besorgen oder in ein Kino gehen, wo der in der OV läuft.
Aber wie ich die so kenne, dauert das noch ewig und es steht ja noch nicht mal fest, ob er überhaupt mitmacht.
Wird in Romeo und Julia nicht reinzufällig mal wiedergesungen? Eigentlich nicht oder? Aber es ist ja nen Disney Film, da wird ja eigentlich viel gesungen.

@ Nelle
Danke fürs posten, des Artikels, der ist sogar ganz gut.

[Athena]

Na ja, in den ganzen letzten Disney-Filmen wurde überhaupt nicht gesungen. Meiner Meinung wäre es mal wieder Zeit!
Frage mich aber, wie man dieses Stück kind-gerecht hinkriegen will. Schön wäre es aber auf jeden Fall!

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

In den Disney-Filmen wird nicht mehr gesungen? Was soll das denn, das fand ich früher immer am besten. Außerdem will ich Ewan mal wieder singen hören, wenn er schon kein Album aufnimmt.
Ich finde das die meisten Disney-Filme nicht allzu kind-gerecht sind, bis auf wenige Filme, die sind doch oft richtig brutal.
Ich hoffe nur, das die mal wieder ordentlich zeichnen, bei den letzten Filme fand ich die Figuren oft nicht so schön gezeichnet, wie früher.

[Athena]

"Atlantis", "Lilo & Stitch" und "Treasure Planet" waren ganz anderes als die älteren, Musical-haften Sachen. Ein singender Ewan ...
Nun, brutale Szene gab es ab und an scho - aber ein Mädchen, das sich vergiftet und ihr Geliebter, der sich daraufhin auch tötet, ist doch ein anderes Kaliber!

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

Naja, dann hoffen wir mal das die wieder zu ihren Musical-Disney-Filmen zurückkommen und Ewan unterschreibt. Das wäre doch richtig super.
Klar ist Romeo und Julia ne andere Sache, aber dann ändern sie das Ende eben, die ändern doch sowieso immer alles. Bestimmt endet das dann kitschig, eben Disney. Hauptsache Ewan singt, dann können die mit dem Thema fast alles machen.

[Nelle]

Ich fänd's klasse, aber da alles nicht sicher ist, mache ich mir noch keine Hoffnungen. Bis jetzt ist Ewan nur "interested".

Ich war schon lange nicht mehr in einem Disney-Film (ich glaube der letzte war "Herkules"). Ich bin allerdings Fan der alten und "König der Löwen" ist noch immer einer meiner Lieblingsfilme.

[Athena]

"Der König der Löwen" kommt im Oktober auf DVD raus (ich vermute ja, dass es wieder eine Doppel-DVD werden könnte). Ich mag alle Disneys in der Reihe von "Arielle" bis zuletzt "Mulan" (glaube ich) ...

[Nelle]

Ja, das habe ich gerade auch auf imdb.com gelesen.
Ich will mir zuerst aber noch "Die Schöne und das Biest" kaufen - den habe ich ewig nicht gesehen.

[Athena]

Bei uns kommt er aber erst 3 Wochen später - am 23. Oktober - in die Läden. "Die Schöne und das Biest" als Doppel-DVD lohnt sich wirklich - bin jetzt noch nicht mal durch alle Extras gekommen.

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

Disney Filme sind teilweise wirklich super.
"Der König der Löwen" ist auch einer meine Lieblingsfilme, wenn Simbas Vater stirb, muss ich immer noch heulen. Wobei ich den gerne mal in der OV sehen würde, schon wegen Jeremy Irons.
Geld müsste man haben.

[Spike'sKrüml]

Disney Filme sind teilweise wirklich super.
"Der König der Löwen" ist auch einer meine Lieblingsfilme, wenn Simbas Vater stirb, muss ich immer noch heulen. Wobei ich den gerne mal in der OV sehen würde, schon wegen Jeremy Irons.
Geld müsste man haben.

zwölf mal.


jedes mal geheult.

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

@ SpikesKlüml
Das sind wieder die geheimen Mitleser.
Aber ich kann dich toppen, habe ihn bestimmt schon an die 20 mal gesehen und immer wieder geheult.

[Nelle]

Wer toppt meine 23x? Davon war ich 8x im Kino. So etwas würde ich heute aber nicht mehr machen.

[Lady-Bant-Eerin]

Ich muss zugeben, das ich das nicht toppen kann. *VideohollundinderEndlosschleifelaufenlasse* Ich hab ihn auch nur ein mal im Kino gesehen. Dafür hab ich HdR, den ersten Teil, 10x im Kino gesehen.

Ich weiß, das hatet jetzt wieder nichts mit dem Topic zu tun, also *Teeniemodusan* Ewan4ever *Teeniemodusaus*