Photo: Summit Pictures
"Ewan, I've known you for years; you're one of my favorite actors,
and I've always loved watching you," Angelina Jolie told the guests at a
private screening of "The Impossible" and reception she hosted for Ewan
McGregor last month in London. Jolie continued, "But I watched this and
I didn't recognize you. It's strange to say it's one of the best
performances of the year -- it really doesn't give it credit, because it
doesn't feel like a performance. It comes from such an honest place. It
was so deeply emotional; you rarely see this kind of emotion from a man
onscreen. … As an actor I'm in awe."
It doesn't take Angelina to recognize that this is a wrenching
performance from the 41-year-old Scottish actor -- although it doesn't
hurt! He plays Henry, a father who takes his wife, Maria (Naomi Watts),
and their three sons on a dream holiday in Thailand that becomes a
nightmare when the tsunami of 2004 hits the seaside town where they're
staying. "The Impossible" is challenging to watch, an unflinching look
at a family unexpectedly separated by disaster in a sea of humanity
coping with loss and trying to keep hope alive.
McGregor gained the attention of American audiences as the star of Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting," back when those same audiences didn't know who Boyle was, either. The Scot sang opposite Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge," played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the "Star Wars" reboot, and recently earned a second Golden Globe nomination for "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen."
As McGregor's "Beginners" co-star Christopher Plummer testified when
he was scooping up awards for playing McGregor's father, "I want to
salute my partner, Ewan, that wily Scot, Ewan 'My Heart's in the
Highlands' McGregor, that scene-stealing swine from the Outer Hebrides."
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