Ewan McGregor made his screen debut in the 1993 British television serial ‘Lipstick on Your Collar’ created by Dennis Potter. He played the role of PTE Mick Hopper and starred in 6 episodes of the show. That same year, he also appeared in the British four-part television drama series ‘Scarlet and Black.’ In 1994, he made his big-screen debut in the Bill Forsyth-directed comedy-drama film ‘Being Human.’ The film received a sort-of mixed response from critics and was a box office disaster. Following his debut, he went on to star in films like ‘Shallow Grave’ (1994), ‘Blue Juice’ (1995), ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), ‘The Pillow Book’ (1996), ‘Nightwatch’ (1997), ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ (1997), ‘Velvet Goldmine’ (1998), and ‘Little Voice’ (1998). In 1999, he portrayed ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ in the American epic space opera film ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ directed by George Lucas. Despite opening to mixed critical reviews, the film was a phenomenal commercial success and grossed over $1.027 billion on a budget of $115 million. That same year, he also played the role of ‘Nick Leeson’ in the British biographical drama film ‘Rogue Trader’ directed by James Dearden. The film received a lukewarm response from critics and scored a 30% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
He was next seen in films like ‘Nora’ (2000), ‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001), ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ (2002), ‘Down with Love’ (2003), ‘Big Fish’ (2003), ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (2005), ‘The Island’ (2005), ‘Stormbreaker’ (2006), ‘Miss Potter’ (2006), ‘Cassandra's Dream’ (2007), and ‘Deception’ (2008). In 2009, he portrayed ‘Camerlengo Father Patrick McKenna’ in the American mystery thriller film ‘Angels & Demons’ directed by Ron Howard. While the film opened to a mixed critical reception, it managed to gross over $485.9 million on a budget of $150 million. The same year also saw the release of the Mira Nair-directed biographical film ‘Amelia’ where McGregor played the role of ‘Gene Vidal.’ The film saw mostly negative reviews upon release. He next starred in films like ‘The Ghost Writer’ (2010), ‘Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang’ (2010), ‘Perfect Sense’ (2011), ‘Haywire’ (2011), ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ (2012), ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ (2013), ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ (2014), ‘Last Days in the Desert’ (2015), ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (2015), ‘Jane Got a Gun’ (2016), ‘American Pastoral’ (2016), ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2017), ‘Christopher Robin’ (2018), ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019), and ‘Birds of Prey’ (2020). He was last seen in the 2021 American crime thriller film ‘The Birthday Cake’ directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics.