Gettin' down with Ewan

Line dancing. Karaoke. Motorcycles. That's the Ewan McGregor we met -- not the slick hipster you'll see next weekend in the romantic comedy "Down With Love".

By Dennis McCafferty

"I've always wanted to cross America, and I've always wanted to do it on a Harley."

It's a film location that, for what it lacks in Hollywood glitz, serves up plenty of Southern charm: In Montgomery, Ala., the shooting headquarters for an upcoming movie called "Big Fish" is planted right across the street from local businesses like the Kutting Edge Lawn and Tree service and the Beauti-Rama hair salon. The city itself is so quiet that "you could be drunk on the street and not see anyone for hours." Or, at least, that's what the movie's star says.

And in this case, the star, Ewan McGregor, is relishing every moment. Now a regular at a popular hangout here named Sinclair's, the Scottish-reared, London-dwelling McGregor is thrilled that his 7-year-old daughter, Clara, is enjoying her time in a community private school, the Montgomery Academy. He's eagerly anticipating a trip to Memphis to pay homage to Elvis. He's even been out line dancing, not to mention taking the mike for karaoke.

"I've always sworn I wouldn't be seen dead line dancing," says McGregor, 32, drinking a Coke at Sinclair's. "But my friend wanted me to take it up. She's a big fan of cowboys, y'know. We all had a good laugh and a good time. I did OK. Line dancing can be very similar to Scottish country dancing. The karaoke was a great bit of fun, too."

Next Friday, however, moviegoers will see an entirely different side of McGregor -- that of a dashing, romantic leading man paired with Renee Zellweger in the glam-fare offering "Down With Love". The comedy could very well change everything for McGregor. For now, he can enjoy moments when he blends into a crowd, as he has in Alabama. Granted, he wields a flashy résumé that includes Episodes I and II of "Star Wars", "Black Hawk Down" and "Moulin Rouge", but in that indie-actor-who-occasionally-tackles-Hollywood way. Explains critic Lisa Schwarzbaum, of "Entertainment Weekly" magazine, "He's never, 'Look at me! I'm a star!' "

Not yet, at least. With "Down With Love", McGregor takes his first shot at lovable-leading-man dominance in a mainstream movie with a proven formula: a stylish retro feel, a pair of appealing stars, and a script that's just naughty and nice enough for that coveted, teen-friendly PG-13 rating. Think Scottish-arthouse-actor-turned-Obi-Wan-Kenobi does ... Cary Grant?

You bet. "I love the idea of seeing him with slick hair and a tuxedo, looking like Grant," says "Down With Love" director Peyton Reed. "He's not afraid to mix up his roles."

A tuxedoed slickster wooing Zellweger to a Frank Sinatra soundtrack was hardly the version of McGregor that Alabama locals have found so endearing during the shooting of "Big Fish", a Tim Burton fantasy with a tender side co-starring Billy Crudup, due in November. In these parts, he's just another jeans-wearing family man kickin' around town with friends, albeit with a British accent and a world-famous movie director.

For his part, McGregor finds it utterly charming that neighbors bring big dishes of beef, gravy and potatoes to the door of his shooting-location home, and that children come over all the time to play with Clara. He swears he has discovered a place nearby that serves the best fried chicken on planet Earth. Next up: a cross-country trek alone on his Harley-Davidson.

"I've always wanted to cross America, and I've always wanted to do it on a Harley," he says. "So I've suddenly realized: Here I am, on the southeastern side of the States. I keep a little car in L.A., so, when we finish here, I'm going to ride to L.A. Along the way, I'm going to Graceland."

None of this should surprise, really. If anything, Ewan McGregor is about assimilation, in both real life and film. Audiences who know him recall the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the "Star Wars" prequels, or the sweet-singing romantic opposite Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge". Those fans may be completely unaware of the other side of McGregor's portfolio -- edgy movies such as "Trainspotting", a grittier-than-gritty portrait of drug abuse in which McGregor has a most ... umm ... memorable encounter with a toilet, and "The Pillow Book", an erotic film that, somehow, expands on the very sensual nature of calligraphy.

"He has an appeal that transcends all genres," critic Schwarzbaum says. "He isn't so handsome that he's like something from another planet, but he's damn cute. And he projects sincerity."

And everything else, if you catch our drift. Not that a "full monty" frontal is any big deal to McGregor. Count him as an actor who is equally at ease with a role that places his likeness on a fourth-grader's lunchbox as he is with one that would land that same student in the principal's office if he downloaded an image in the school library. McGregor quite enjoys the naked thing, and -- especially in a very "adults-only" arthouse film like "The Pillow Book" -- he packs a lot of it into his movies.

"In the past, you never saw a man naked in a film, and you always saw the woman naked," McGregor explains. "There's something not right about that. So I like to even it up. I feel that the film should represent life. There's a lot of nudity in everyday life."

Well, at least, for most of us, once a day ...

"Very often more for me!" McGregor responds with a hearty laugh.

McGregor is brought another Coke by a waiter who just happens to have worked as an extra in "Big Fish". He wants an autograph. "Tell Ewan that I was the guy holding the pitchfork," he says when McGregor steps away from the table. The actor returns, signs for the gentleman and engages him in warm conversation. It's the first of several pleasant exchanges he has with local folks over the next hour.

His only irritation? Adult "Star Wars" fans taking things too seriously. "It's fantastic the way children ask you, 'How does the light saber turn on?' " he says. "But I don't like it when the adults do that, because they should know better, really. I've had one adult ask me for advice on how to be a trainee to become a Jedi knight. I tell people like that: 'You want advice to be a Jedi trainee? F--- off! That's my advice.' " (Oh, and by the way: The only inside skinny he has on the next "Star Wars" movie, expected to be released sometime in 2005, is that he and the character of Anakin Skywalker may have a big fight.)

If he urges obsessive fans to have a reality check, it's because there are other things in real life more worth contemplating. These days, McGregor is sorting out his feelings about global turmoil. He tries to take his family -- his wife, Eve Mavrakis, and daughters Clara and 18-month-old Esther -- with him on movie locations. Now he's more committed than ever to doing so.

"When you're far away from home, it's awful not to be with them," he says. "You just worry yourself to death. I'd think about what would happen if something goes off in London. We found that, if we give enough advance notice, we can get Clara into a school where I'm filming. It's beneficial. She gets to experience all of these different places with the kids there."

A friend of McGregor's, actor Charley Boorman, says family life keeps the star grounded. "We met [making] the film "The Serpent's Kiss" in 1997 and both had newborn children at the time," Boorman says. "We had play dates and had a great time. We were in Ireland, and we took our families all over the place. I'm not surprised that he's having such a good time in the South. He likes to get out and experience everything with his family."

McGregor has social passion as well. He has rallied needed support to build a hospice for terminally ill children in Scotland. "People complained that there would be hearses driving around all the time there," he says. "None of us could believe this. This would be a house for children who are terribly sick, who won't make it to their adult lives. But it's a place that's full of life. These are the most courageous little people you'll ever meet. Parents there are living with the idea that their child is going to die every day. When the child dies there, the family can go through counseling and stay for as long as they need to.

"We did press interviews and got as many people there for the planning commission meeting as we could. So many turned out, there was no way to turn down the hospice. All of Scotland was behind us."

Not that McGregor is getting too serious-minded and earnest on us. After all, he's still having quite a good time down South. Especially when the locals ask which of his movies they should rent on a Saturday night.

"People here ask me that all the time, y'know," McGregor says. "They say, 'I've seen "Star Wars" and "Moulin Rouge". What else should we try to see you in?' I always tell 'em to get "Pillow Book"! That would be a bit of an eye-opener for them, wouldn't it?"

Photograph by Tony Baker for USA WEEKEND.

Styling: Linda Powell.
Grooming: Eric Polito/Jump.
Clothing: Jacket by Adidas, jeans by Hedi Slimane for Dior.