'I simply won't do it anymore': Ewan McGregor refuses to answer 'deeply personal' questions because of tabloids

What started off as an interview with global media turned slightly heated as Scottish actor Ewan McGregor firmly proclaimed that he won't answer personal questions.

To be fair, the interview earlier this week was about his dramedy film Raymond & Ray, which sees him play Raymond, half-brother to Ethan Hawke's Ray, and it revolves around heavy themes on abuse, family and letting go.

The film follows the duo on a road trip to bury their father after learning of his demise. However, they soon realise that in the decades since they've left him, their father had his own life and family and they discover different sides to the abusive person they once knew.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoslFK6HwT8&ab_channel=TIFFTrailers[/embed]

So, it wasn't that much of a stretch for reporters to ask about the actors bringing some form of personal experience to their roles, especially when it touches on rather serious themes.

Ewan, 51, wasn't interested in offering any insights into his personal life, though.

In response to a question about his own journey of self-discovery, akin to what the brothers in the film go through, he said firmly: "These deeply personal questions are impossible to answer these days.

"It's impossible to talk about things that actually happen in your life now because you'll write about it beautifully and the British tabloids will take what you say and turn it into absolute dogs***.

"So it's impossible. It's impossible now for the actor to talk about his own life. I simply won't do it anymore."

Prior to that, he hinted at his reluctance to share anything intimate when his response to a question was simply "I don't have anything to say about my personal situation".

Ethan, also 51, agreed: "Ewan is absolutely right... to have a real heart-to-heart here, that can't happen anymore because no sooner do you say it that it's all over the internet."

However, he had a more light-hearted approach to personal questions. When responding to the same question as Ewan, the Moon Knight star quipped: "I lost myself very long ago and I never found myself."

"They always happen to you by surprise... the times in my life that I've gone out searching for self-discovery, I wind up bored, watching the NFL or something," he added.

However, he also expertly swerved the conversation back to the film and the complicated family dynamics, especially between the brothers. He compared such defining moments in life to the sudden appearance of a sibling who you don't want to see but are always glad to.

Ethan explained: "It's the way a lot of us feel about our family, which is they feel in the way of our daily life until they present themselves and you realise they are your daily life and you can never shake them. They're a part of you always.

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"And you know, that great line? 'You can't make new old friends'? There is real power in being around people that know where you come from and recognise first-hand the traumas you felt."

And when it comes to bringing his "father-son experience" to the role, he replied without missing a beat: "Well, it's impossible not to. And to a certain extent, that's what we do. We put ourselves in imaginary circumstances, but we use our own knowledge of the universe to implement it."

After Ewan declined to answer, he continued: "You know, my pet answer for that is that one of the wonderful things about being an actor is that human experience is not as unique as we think it is. When we're young, we think all these things that are hurting us are so specific to our own parents, or our own brother, our own lover.

"As you live a little bit, you start to realise these themes of family and love and loss are so common and that we really can understand each other."

Working together for the first time

Despite being in the industry for decades and moving around in the same circles, both Ewan and Ethan have never worked together until now.

And though he may be tight-lipped about his family and personal life, Ewan was willing to talk about his friendship with Ethan and how it translated into the roles.

Ewan had seen Ethan in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society — Ethan's breakout role — and only met the actor when he was filming Gattaca (1997) with Jude Law.

The Obi-Wan star recalled: "I was a friend of Jude's and so we bumped into each other and spent a little bit of time together."

"There's some similarity, definitely sort of a kindred spirit-ness between us right from the beginning," he shared.

"Although I didn't know Ethan personally, I always felt like we've had feelings about our work that were similar — the types of people we've worked with, the kind of movies we've made, this sort of relentless nature of our [work]... I've always felt that we were very similar... we just sat down into these parts and it just felt so easy and natural."

Raymond & Ray premieres on Apple TV+ on Oct 21.

bryanlim@asiaone.com