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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Where are you in your career now? What kind of stuff do you want to do next?
EWAN MCGREGOR: I just go on stories, really. I always have done that, and unless I was going to write stuff for myself to do, or produce stuff, which isn't really my bag, I wait for something to plop down on the doormat and grab me. That's what I like to do.
Did the Star Wars films give you the freedom to do what you want for a long, long time?
I don't think so.
Really?
No, I don't think so. I think that they are so much of their own thing. It's about Star Wars. It isn't really about me or Hayden [Christensen]. But it's difficult to tell how they affect you career-wise. That's why its best not to play that game. It's best to be in it for the stories and for the love of it and — well, not just for the love of it, because I like to be paid well, when I can be — but what is more important is the stories, really. If you're making your decisions based on that, then you do end up working with first time directors and you work with Ridley Scott and Tim Burton, and I've been lucky to work both with fantastic directors who were starting out and others who have been making films for a long time. But my feeling is that, in terms of impact, something like Trainspotting has more, because people went, ''F---! What's with this?'' You know? So, in a way it's got more of an impact than Star Wars, when people are expecting something like that anyway.
Do you still worry about finding work?
I don't worry about it. I take time to do these big motorbike trips and my agent might draw in his breath when I tell him I would like to do another one because its four to five months out of the game, but I think this is what life is all about. I am satisfied and happy with the work I've done, and I think people hire me because I am good at what I do. I like to think so anyway. I sometimes get parts that are more challenging than others, and I think, from what I've been reading recently, that there's an awful lot more of that to come. A lot of the scripts that I've been reading lately are quite brave, independent films that are about things that matter, and some of the roles quite extreme. So, I've got a feeling, and I don't know what you think, that people are demanding more of movies.
So, you think you'll always go make movies like The Pillow Book?
Oh, I hope so. But at the same time if you get something that appeals to you from the bigger studios, I don't mind that either. I'm happy to do both. There is a lot of potential at the moment because it seems to be changing. I think studios are less [sure] about what to finance, since throwing $200 million at a film doesn't guarantee success like it used to. And that's good.
Was The Island a sting for you?
I liked it. I thought that was a good film! I thought for that kind of movie, it was a good one. I thought Scarlett was good in it and I had a good time working with her. And Djimon [Hounsou] was f---ing gorgeous in it, and brilliantly mean in it and cool. And Michael Bay blew up a lot of s--- in it. And it was at this time when, after Pearl Harbor, people just wanted to pan [his work] and it just so happened that I was working with him when it happened.
