Theatre VG
Ewan McGregor | Curt Wild
"'Make a wish - and see yourself, on stage, inside-out. A tangle of garlands in your hair. Of course you're pleasantly surprised.' Softly, he said, 'I'll mangle your mind.'"



Hot young star of new wave of British acting talent, McGregor plays Curt Wild, Brian's inspiration and obsession.

McGregor first come to prominece in Shallow Grave, the debut feature from Danny Boyle in which he starred with kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston. He went on to appear in Carl Precheser's Blue Juice, Doug McGrath's Emma, Mark Herman's Brassed Off, and Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, but it was as Renton in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting that McGregor became a household name in a role which captured the imagination of teenagers worldwide. Recent features are The Serpent's Kiss by Phillippe Rousselot, Nightwatch and Danny Boyle's latest, A Life Less Ordinary alongside Cameron Diaz.

He has completed filming the first Star Wars prequel directed by George Lucas in which he plays the young Obi Wan Kenobi(released on 16th May as Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace) and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice(released as Little Voice instead), directed by Mark Herman, as well as Rogue Trader(released in UK in theatre, US on telly), based on the true story of Nick Leeson. In March 1998 he went to Canada to film Stephen Elliott's The Eye of the Beholder(to be released in the fall '99) opposite Ashley Judd.

"We[Christine Vachon] were going to cast an American actor as Curt Wild, but Todd saw Trainspotting before it opened in the States and felt that Ewan would be perfect."

Todd euthuses about the cast: "Ewan was wonderful. I think it filled a lot of the age-old desires to be a rock star that most of us have, but would be unable to execute with such power. He also sang live, did unbelievably strenous, outrageous performances and gave 100 percent consistently in every take, while still aloowing the performance to feel raw and spontaneous."

"[about letting Ewan sing in the movie]In Ewan's case, I[Todd Haynes] knew he'd be singing Iggy songs, and that kind of music - which is more about raw, emotive performance on stage than vocal virtuosity - needed to be performed and communicated by the actor. I've heard Ewan sing in Emma, so I was confident he could carry a tune, and I knew he could command a physical performance that would be very exciting. But I didn't know that he could bring the performance to such a seductive, charged level by actually singing the songs himself, getting into them, living them out on stage. He workeda little bit with a vocal coach so he'd feel comfortable breaking so many rules of singing by doing the Iggy thing, but since the voice is his own, so is the character."



"Fact Sheet": Curt Wild

Name: Curt Wild 

Date of Birth: Date and month unknown, year: 1946 

Place of Birth: Michigan, most probably (rock folklore claims far more primitive origins
                   - a pack of black wolves a bundle at the door of a luminous silver trailer home...

Grew Up: Aluminium trailer parks of Michigan 

Live in: New York City 

History: lead singer and founder of the greatest garage band known to mankind(The Rats) According to legend, when Curt
            was forteen, he was discovered by his mother in the family loo, at the "service" of his older brother, and promptly 
            shipped off for eighteen months of electric shock treatment. The doctors guaranteed the treatment would fry the fairy 
            clean out of him. But all it did was make him bonkers every time he heard electric guitar.

Ewan McGregor describe American rock star Curt Wild as: "A Mad rock'n'roller. He's completely up for it. He's excessive, he has some tender moments with Brian, but on stage he's an exhibitionist child. I loved Safe[another movie by Todd Haynes, Christine is also the producer] I thought it was an amazing movie. This was just a birthday present of a part, it was an amazing piece of writing and I've always had a desperate desire to be a rock star and I thought if I played one I'd get over it, but it seems to have had the reverse effect."

Ewan talks about being Curt Wild: "I couldn't conceive what it owuld be like on stage, but you just have to let yourself go and it's a bit of a shocker when they shout, "cut"! I foolishly asked if I could fo my singing live, but it's worked out well and I find it exciting. Everyone sings with an American accent anyway so that's not hard and the vocals come from the thrashing around on stage, but it's definitely the most physical part I've done. I can now say I've played the Brixton Academy."

Some of the material about is taken from the booklet inside the UK DVD and the screenplay. Thanks Carrie and Curly for the pictures.


The Cast




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