Ewan McGregor regrets falling out with Danny Boyle

Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle may have finally reunited to make the critically-acclaimed sequel to Trainspotting, but it wasn’t always clear the film would happen.

Why? The T2 Trainspotting actor and director fell out over Boyle’s decision to cast Leonardo DiCaprio in his film The Beach rather than McGregor. In fact, the two didn’t speak to each other for ten years afterwards.

However, after working together again, the pair agree their decade-long falling out is a “great shame”.

McGregor said he felt “rudderless” to have not been cast after appearing in Boyle’s first three films, and regretted not working with the director afterwards.

“It was a misunderstanding and a mishandling of a situation… It’s a big regret of mine that it went on for so long and a real shame we didn’t work together all those years,” McGregor said.

“I had been in Danny’s first three films and then I wasn’t asked to be in his fourth – The Beach – but it wasn’t really about the film, it was about our friendship… You can only fall out with someone you love.”

Boyle and McGregor first worked together on 1994’s Shallow Grave before they reunited for 1996’s Trainspotting and then A Life Less Ordinary in 1997.

Boyle, who also appeared on the show, said: “I handled it very badly and I’ve apologised to Ewan. I feel a great shame about it that is difficult to explain.

“He handled it with enormous grace and courage. Someone asked him to present an award to me for Slumdog Millionaire and he did it and made this amazing speech and I was in tears back stage. I’m very grateful to him.”

McGregor also revealed that the two were handed a chance to set things right before they reunited, but both backed out.

“We had both been in Shanghai for some awards and were returning on a flight together,” the Scottish actor said. “Danny, my wife and I were the only three people in first class. Eventually my wife went to sleep and I saw Danny up ahead with his light on and I thought, ‘this is it, this is the moment we get it all out’.

“But we couldn’t, so we both just sat there with our lights burning.”

T2 Trainspotting is in cinemas now

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