The 14 Best Ewan McGregor Movies, Ranked

From starring in cult favorites to playing a Jedi Master, the Scottish actor has long been a fan favorite.

" You were the chosen one ! " shouts Ewan McGregor ’s Obi - Wan Kenobi towards the heroic conclusion of theStar Warsprequel trilogy , the series of pic that metamorphose his career and put him on the path to the present moment . InRevenge of the Sith , he ’s speak to Anakin Skywalker , his perverse new trainee . But look back now , the strain dish out as a fitting encapsulation for McGregor ’s own increasingly engrossing , occasionally thwarting life history . Even if he was n’t always easy with the role , he was Hollywood ’s chosen one for a bit .

After emerge with two Danny Boyle - direct indie bang , 1994’sShallow Graveand 1996’sTrainspotting , McGregor became a blockbuster lead man with 1999’sThe Phantom Menace , one of the most eagerly anticipated ( and subsequently picked - asunder ) movies ever made . He carved his own way in the next two decades , process with internationally acclaimed filmmakers on smaller undertaking , while still pop up in the occasional military action epic or horror sequel . Even as the industry deepen around him , he charge forrader , moving into video with his recent Emmy - propose work on FX’sFargoand Netflix’sHalston . chip in hiswell - document love life of bike , that makes sensation .

This hebdomad , an older and saucy McGregor will return to the role of Jedi Master withDisney+‘sObi - Wan Kenobiminiseries . To mark the occasion of McGregor ’s return to the comeupance of Tatooine , we’repeering through our macrobinocularsat the tip and valleys of McGregor ’s tenacious life history , selecting 14 of our favored roles from his eclectic filmography . After nearly three decades of stardom , the force play is still strong with this one .

best ewan mcgregor movies

Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist

14.Birds of Prey(2020)

McGregor ’s villainous performance as Roman Sionis inBirds of Preylands on this list just because the actor is havingso much fun . The DC team - up lead by Margot Robbie casts McGregor as a congratulate mobster with an phylogenetic relation for garish home design , a homoerotic relationship with his collaborator ( played by a very blonde Chris Messina ) , and a murderous desire for a diamond . Cathy Yan ’s very sport and underrated twirl on the superhero wrick McGregor’sMoulin Rouge!leading - man image on its forefront to dandy effect . — Esther Zuckerman

13.The Island(2005)

12.Haywire(2011)

As a cloak - fatigue Jedi , McGregor has spent hour swinging a lightsaber , dodging lasers , and leaping across floating platforms . InSteven Soderbergh ’s wickedly brutish spy thriller , he gets a chance to mesh in a more tactile , bone - crunching form of combat . As pretty - son villain Kenneth , a mysterious intelligence world operative and ex - boyfriend to Gina Carano ’s private contractor Mallory , he exude unction , cynicism , and lethal competence . When he finally confront off against Mallory on a beach in the moving-picture show ’s sand - throw MMA beatdown last , McGregor gets a few sharp move in . But the defining moment for his character , a government activity - trained weasel to the death , is when he test to hightail it up the side of a rocky cliff and make a cowardly escape , only to be pulled down by Mallory ’s retaliate saint . — Dan Jackson

11.Last Days in the Desert(2016)

Is Ewan McGregor the sexy movie Jesus ? His windswept hair and pale - low-spirited middle make a strong argument , but they ’re not all Rodrigo García ’s pic has going for it . McGregor plays both Yeshua ( the Hebraic name for Jesus ) and Satan , the latter a hallucination haunting the scriptural christ during his 40 - mean solar day fast . Making Jesus and the devil doppelgängers is a seditious spin , and even thoughLast Days in the Desertremains a fairly quiet speculation , McGregor speciate between the two by giving the prince of darkness a mocking lilt . These are n’t the thespian ’s most expressive performance , but that ’s the point : Jesus ' intragroup conflicts and childlike hope emerge in lowly doses , make him more human than the intermediate faith - base dramatization take into account . — Matthew Jacobs

10.I Love You Phillip Morris(2009)

Given how better-looking he is , it ’s just surprising that McGregor often gets cast as an object of compulsion and desire . In this disconsolate comedy from the piece of writing - directing duette of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra , who pen the likewise acidicBad Santa , McGregor plays the titulary Phillip Morris , an inmate with whom Jim Carrey ’s convict creative person Steven Jay Russell fall crazily in love while serve fourth dimension in a Texas prison . Carrey , ostensibly overjoyed to be free from the constraint of the family comedies he was zigzag out at the metre , has the meretricious character , but McGregor , playing the more uninstructed Morris , postulate to convince you that Morris would in reality go to such neat lengths ( like escape prison house multiple times ) to be with him . McGregor ’s sweetness is an asset here , helping to sell both the farce and the love story . — DJ

9.Doctor Sleep(2019)

Mike Flanagan ’s Stephen King adaptationwas not the first time McGregor offered a new tailspin on a well - know part ( more on that below ) . As a grown - up Danny Torrance , the traumatized psychical child fromThe radiate , McGregor is subdued and exhausted , still pain by his connection to the terrific purport world yet using his mightiness to ease the passing of hospice patients . When a new evil accede his life sentence , searching for mass who " gleam " just like him , he reluctantly saves the life of a young psychic girl , travel back to the Overlook Hotel one final time at the movie ’s sexual climax . Doctor Sleepis a masterpiece of sickening stress and hypnotic repugnance , and never tries too operose to emulate what came before . McGregor play Danny as an adult altered and develop by the decades since we last see him , yet still haunted by the traumas of the past . — ES

8.Shallow Grave(1994)

When McGregor first come out on screen inShallow Grave , filmmaker Danny Boyle ’s grisly comedic thriller , he disarms the witness with his floppy hair , his gentle voice , and his megawatt grin . This is a nice Scottish boy , correct ? apace , his character , a sarcastic diary keeper named Alex , reveals his true nature : cruelly mocking a likely flatmate , teasing his champion , and , eventually , disposing of a corpse . The escalating wildness and nihilism of Boyle ’s launching , a sensation in England at the prison term of its acquittance , can be tum - churning , a series of Hitchcockian twists executed with euphony video brio , but McGregor charms and score you every stride of the way . As a stylish portrayal of a young sociopath , Shallow Gravedoesn’t exactly cut late . With McGregor anchoring the activity , it does n’t require to . — disk jockey

7. TheStar Warsprequels

bonk them or detest them , it ’s out of the question to downplay theStar Warsprequel films ' wallop on dad culture , or their impingement on McGregor ’s career . If you did n’t know of him before , you by all odds did once he took on the unenviable undertaking of cause an iconic persona his own . play a young version of Alec Guinness ' Jedi master Obi - Wan Kenobi ( recall when they used to just cast younger actors rather of digitally de - ageing shade ? ? ? ) , McGregor pop out in and out of interstellar conflicts while show off his memorable tan robe , providing a calming , authoritative service line against cobalt - star Hayden Christensen ’s Helen Wills Moody angst . The prequel trilogy is as much Obi - Wan ’s story as it is Anakin ’s , and McGregor ’s bits are routinely even more entertaining , as he evolves from Jedi trainee to powerful horse in the service of a corrupt political power . You ’ll never hear the phrase " hello there ! " the same way ever again . — ES

6.Big Fish(2003)

Tim Burton ’s southerly - gothic fairytale may be full of the director ’s key signature grotesque manner , but much of its magic spell relies on McGregor . As the young Edward Bloom , it ’s him we play along through all of grown - up Edward ’s ( Albert Finney ) stories , from move around with a colossus to his days in the genus Circus . His expressive cheek contend to conquer all kinds of wonder , making it truly feel as if clock time could lay off , popcorn swim midair , when he rests his eyes upon his soulmate . And with that Alabama drawl , it ’s no wonder the residents of Spectre desire him to absent his shoe and stay forever . While the father – son moral force at the shopping mall of the news report finds a semisweet final stage and Bloom ’s grandiloquent tales are n’t as tall as he made them out to be , there ’s a magic to McGregor ’s public presentation that still leaves you wonder otherwise . — Sadie Bell

5.Moulin Rouge!(2001)

Perhaps no other motion-picture show cemented McGregor ’s heartthrob status well than Baz Luhrmann ’s cheap musical spectacular ( spectacular)Moulin Rouge!Playing the lovelorn poet Christian , who moons after Nicole Kidman ’s Satine while singing Elton John and David Bowie tunes , McGregor radiates an Old Hollywood song - and - saltation - human being charm mash up with a daddy - whizz suaveness . His and Kidman ’s luxuria is palpable , and Luhrmann ’s camera highlights his pristine pale cheekbones . Moulin Rouge!is not for everyone , but McGregor boom its over - the - top , baldly emotional tone and won himself legions of fans . — EZ

4.Down with Love(2003)

Peyton Reed ’s 1962 - setDown with Loveis both an homage to and travesty of classic Doris Day and Rock Hudson " no - sex sexual practice funniness . " It ’s a dichotomy that McGregor balances well as " madam man , man ’s humankind , man about town " Catcher Block ( that name ! ) , coming off as both exceedingly dashing and an optic - roll - induct womanizer . When he blows off feminist writer Barbara Novak ( Renée Zellweger ) and the opportunity to boost her book , he finds his playboy world turned upside down and comes up with a dirty little scheme to hazard to be a charmer name Zip and sweep her off her understructure . realize McGregor skirmish eyelashes off boldness and take seductive bites out of umber bar , you could tell he ’s having a ball with the movie ’s fashionable rom - com coyness . It ’s a film that goes down like a Manhattan with a Maraschino cerise . — SB

3.Trainspotting(1996)

Recklessly sprint through the streets of Edinburgh , sarcastically exploring the values of " choose life , " and eventually grovel headfirst into " the bad bathroom in Scotland , " McGregor ’s turn as heroin nut Mark " Rent Boy " Renton persist one of the authoritative Gen X carrying into action . He substantiate the movie ’s violent , nihilistic energy . Director Danny Boyle assault Irvine Welsh ’s 1993 novel with unrelenting style , layer the soundtrack with ear - grabbing songs and cut together each sequence at a rapid pace . Like many film about drug manipulation , the viewing experience can be draining . With his plane head and twitchy optic , McGregor grounds Renton ’s struggle in literal emotions , recover humor and pathos in the never - cease chase for the next high . — disc jockey

2.Beginners(2010)

Mike Mills’Beginnersis a very especial film . ground on the writer / director ’s own experience of his 75 - year - old founding father come out just five years before his death , the indie dramedy find McGregor as Mills ' stand - in Oliver and Christopher Plummer as Oliver ’s father as he ’s die of cancer . Told in multiple timeline ( Oliver ’s childhood , shortly after his female parent dies in his maturity , and after his father ’s destruction ) , McGregor holds this fictional character study close to his heart . relearn to know the father he think he do it , living with grief , and putting the amorous lessons his father left to good enjoyment , it ’s a rarefied worked up showcase for the actor , who never strays from portray all of the nuances of Oliver ’s fluctuation depression and optimism . Plummer may have won an Oscar for his operation , but McGregor is an understated match for the legend ( and even his Jack Russell terrier cobalt - ace ! ) . — SB

1.Velvet Goldmine(1998)

McGregor bares it all inVelvet Goldmine : his fleshy contour line , his decadent mentality , his anarchical soul . Todd Haynes ' glam - rock fantasia is an ode to David Bowie that borrow theCitizen Kanetemplate , but McGregor ’s Curt Wild has the spirit of Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop , making him a testament to the American i d. He ’s brattish , sensual , explosive , and even a bit amatory . It ’s one of those rare opportunities that actors only get once or doubly in their careers , when their leashes are untethered and they can flail about with all the disorderliness that the rest of us have to bottle up . He ’s made bigger movies in the intervening years , but none of them are as outsized asGoldmine.—MJ

ewan mcgregor in birds of prey