Ewan McGregor is swiping through his camera roll, looking for the picture that explains why he will never grow another mustache â unless a job requires it. And even then, heâd probably argue that the character should be clean-shaven. DalĂ without a mustache? Surreal.
Before our conversation, I had resolved not to ask McGregor anything about facial hair. It seems that most of the interviews heâs done to promote his terrific Paramount+ With Showtime limited series âA Gentleman in Moscowâ have spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on the mustache he grew to play Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Russian nobleman sentenced to house arrest in a luxurious hotel following the 1917 revolution. Over four decades (and eight episodes), the good gentleman learns to let go of formalities and appreciate simple pleasures and embrace family.
But he never shaves off that damn mustache.
McGregor keeps scrolling. Heâs in Atlanta, shooting âFlowervale Street,â a movie so secret that when he mentions its name, he immediately panics. âOh, no. Iâm worried that I just blew the title.â When I tell him itâs out there, heâs relieved. He wrapped shooting at 6:30 this morning, and here he is with me on Zoom, 4Âœ hours later. âIâm somewhat upside down, but itâs all good,â he says.
And heâs not that out of it, because when I tell him all I know about âFlowervale Streetâ is that David Robert Mitchell (âIt Follows,â âUnder the Silver Lakeâ) wrote and directed it, and itâs a mystery, and it might be set in the 1980s, and it might have dinosaurs, he says, smiling:
âWell, Iâm not at liberty to discuss that in any way, so it could be in the â70s with, you know, rodents. But itâs great fun.â
He finds the photo. Heâs with his son, Laurie, who was just shy of 3 when it was taken. McGregorâs hair is light brown. His mustache is blond. He grimaces, saying, âThereâs something about my blondie mustache that doesnât look good on my face.â The picture was taken last year during the actorsâ strike, which interrupted the filming of âA Gentleman in Moscowâ with eight days remaining on the schedule. During the break, McGregor kept the mustache, grew a beard and waited. When shooting resumed in January, he finished his scenes and shaved it all off five minutes after production wrapped.
âThereâs me in the makeup chair,â McGregor says with glee, finding another shot in his camera roll.
The experience of making this show is why I wanted to be an actor.
â Ewan McGregor on âA Gentleman in Moscowâ
âIâm getting the feeling youâre never growing a mustacheââ
â… again,â he interrupts, finishing my sentence. âOnce it goes white, maybe. Then I think it might look good. Like, for instance, youâd look great with a mustache.â Which is funny because the last time I grew a beard, my kids, then little, called me Obi-Wan.
âThere are worse things they could call you, believe me,â McGregor says, laughing.
McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three âStar Warsâ prequels and returned to the role for the 2022 Disney+ limited series. Shortly before we spoke, he surprised fans attending a 25th-anniversary showing of âThe Phantom Menaceâ at the Atlanta Film Festival. He likes doing these kinds of drop-ins. A few years ago, he showed up at the El Capitan in Hollywood at 2 in the morning between films in a âStar Warsâ marathon.
âTheyâre all in sleeping bags and blankets,â McGregor says. âItâs a good laugh. And itâs good for the ego when they give you a big cheer when they werenât expecting you.â
Critics mostly hated âThe Phantom Menaceâ when it was released, but the George Lucas-directed movie has been reassessed as the years have passed.
âWe made the film for kids, but we didnât hear from them then because they were kids and there was no Instagram, no social media. They didnât have a voice like they do now,â McGregor says. âAll we had was the critics and the noise of the people who didnât like it. But those kids have grown up, and those movies are now their âStar Warsâ trilogy. Itâs nice for me, that. Because at the time, the reaction was rough.â
We get to talking about the idea, explored in âA Gentleman in Moscow,â that less is more and the contentment that comes from casting aside what no longer serves us.
âYou realize what things are not you,â McGregor says. âIâm 53. But Iâve got lots of friends who are about to be 60. And I keep noticing, watching shows on television, young people referencing 60 like itâs really old!â He stops, laughing. âYouâre like, âWait a minute.â But itâs also learning about who you are, isnât it? And you let go of the things that you donât need.â
The funny thing about McGregor, though, is that heâs someone who picks up hobbies quickly, becomes obsessed with them and then moves on to the next thing, never quite letting them go. He can ride a unicycle. He can play the guitar. He can blow a few tunes on the bagpipes. Thereâs always something going on. It used to be that heâd beat himself up over knowing how to do a lot of things moderately well as opposed to mastering a single talent. Now he just accepts thatâs how he is. He can go out to his shed, look at the unicycle he hasnât used for three years and know that someday heâll give it another go.
âWhat about the bagpipes?â I ask. âAre they in the corner somewhere, gathering dust?â
âThey are at the moment,â McGregor says. âBut they will get blown again.â
It turns out McGregor is even more interested in talking about the bagpipes than about his âMoscowâ mustache. It wasnât that long ago, in fact, that he broke out his bagpipes. This last year, he was in his native Scotland for Hogmanay, the countryâs new year celebration. He was out with his brother, who repeatedly called out for songs that McGregor didnât know. âCâmon, shut up. I donât know that one,â McGregor kept telling him.
When he was a kid, McGregor was a drummer in a pipe band. He never thought heâd be a piper because as a drummer, that would be, in his words, âgoing over to the dark side.â But when he was shooting the 2011 film âSalmon Fishing in the Yemenâ in the Scottish Highlands, he met a piper and, inspired by being home, bought some bagpipes and found a teacher in London. He took the pipes with him to the set of his next film â he wonât name it, but it was a âmiserableâ experience (âfâ slow, like I was under house arrestâ) â and asked the transport guy to put his trailer next to the generator.
âIâm the first actor in history to ask that, because usually you want to be as far away from the generator as possible because itâs so noisy,â McGregor says. âBut it was perfect because I could blow my bagpipes for hours on end and no one could hear it because I was next to the drone of the generator.â
Hearing these stories, itâs easy to see why McGregor loved âA Gentleman in Moscow,â a series that asked him to learn how to do a number of different things â age a character over decades, play a father and a lover, explore the inner life of a man well versed in grief and loss who never loses his zest for life.
âThe experience of making this show is why I wanted to be an actor,â McGregor says. âItâs such a beautiful piece; it leaves you thinking, âGod, I hope thereâs another one out there somewhere in the future.â But who knows?â
âHeâs so charming, but I resist using that word because itâs reductive,â says âMoscowâ showrunner Ben Vanstone. âThereâs so much thought and skill that goes into his performance, all of his performances, really.â
Vanstone says McGregorâs count ages 31 years in the series, not including what we see of the character in childhood flashbacks. But because the characterâs mental burdens grow lighter over time, McGregor believes he becomes more relaxed and, in many ways, younger. He learns to live.
Circling back to what he said earlier about young people calling his friends almost ancient at 60, I ask McGregor how old he feels these days.
âI feel 53. I feel exactly where I am,â he replies. âI donât want to be 35. I want to feel the age that I am.â
Is that because, I ask â adding that Iâve known him for so long now, almost an entire hour, so I can presume some insight â he wouldnât trade the wisdom and experiences heâs accumulated to shave off a few years?
âNo, I wouldnât,â McGregor says. âIâm not afraid of aging. Iâm not afraid of getting older. Iâm not afraid of dying. Iâm just so happy. Iâm a lucky, lucky man.â