Paper Hearts: You-In Muck-Regg-Er

Yesterday was Ewan McGregor's 42nd birthday.
I know! Exciting! Right?
Right?
So here's the deal. Maybe you've never really thought about it before. Ewan McGregor was just that nice man who played Obi Wan Kenobi and was in Moulin Rouge & Big Fish. He's a good actor. He's Scottish, isn't he? That's about all you know.
Well, in (belated) honor of his birthday, I'm going to make you certifiable Ewan McGregor fans. And by certifiable fans, I mean you won't know anything useful about him except some of the films he's been in and that he's adorable and attractive and actually kind of deserves way more attention than, say, Channing Tatum. (I'm not saying I'm impervious to that Tatum jawline, I'm just saying.) He's classy, he's mad talented, he's a family man, he's Scottish, he's smart, he's mischevious - I don't understand how you're not an adoring fan already. But whatever, I forgive you, it's probably not your fault.
Ready to be converted?

Ewan McGregor was in this little movie called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Also I need to lay off on the sarcasm, apparently, because as I wrote that, it was all sarcastic in my head. And then I finished and realized there was no punchline, because Salmon Fishing actually was a small movie. Really insanely lovely, though. If you have feelings and maybe a heart and some tear ducts, you'll love it. It's also really funny. Also starring Emily Blunt, who happens to be a massive crush, so buy it, for good measure.

Ohhh, look who it is, the trailer! Obviously you have to watch it, if for no other reason than his accent.
(Not just a link. EMBEDDED. Now don't say I never do anything for you guys!)

Also he was in this film called Beginners, which I desperately want to see, which so should you.

And if you don't love Christopher Plummer, statistics show that you're 100% likely to basically suck. Science!

And he was in The Impossible, which is popular enough that you've probably heard about it. Can we just talk about what a fabulous actor he is? And how adorable those children are? And that's all. I saw it in a movie theater on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, and if you can recreate that exact viewing experience, then you should. Because it's delightful. But if not, that's cool, just watch it already. Aight?

So let's talk the talk. Obviously we'd love him for this quote alone, right?
"I certainly have no plans to leave London. It`s a great town."

But in addition to loving London (like any sane person, but that's besides the point), he's really down to earth. Check this out.

“I was with a friend of mine recently who was dying and while he was lying there with his family around his bed, I just knew that was it, that was the best you can hope for in life - to have your family and the people who love you around you at the end.”

"I am a married man. I haven`t been personally involved with all my leading ladies. It would maybe be somewhat glamorous if I had been, but I have not."

"I hated Clueless (1995) with a passion. I thought it would have been a really good film if someone had blown her head off at the end with a really huge gun. I mean, this rich bitch suddenly becomes charitable and then she`s okay? And then there`s the token black friend. It was so corrupt, so L.A., I hated it." (Does it or does it not tell you how deep I'm in when I let someone change my mind about Clueless?)

"I chose to live in London, and I love it there. But I`m Scottish through and through. It`s a great place, a beautiful land and a beautiful people."

Also he's positive. Tell me you love him already.
“I fight cynicism. It`s too easy. It`s really boring. It`s much harder to be positive and see the wonder of everything. Cynicism is a bunch of people who aren`t as talented as other people, knocking them because they make them feel even more untalented.”
"
Film-making is like a series of problems that need to be solved. And the excitement, the adrenaline that you get from making a small film is that you all have to pull together. You finish and you feel like you`re walking away from your family. I love that."

And he's a smart-ass.

“I`ve got a black woolen hat and it`s got Pervert written across the front of it. It`s the name of the clothing label. And I was with my wife and my baby at the supermarket and I didn`t think. I just put my hat on Clara`s head, because it was cold. And the looks. I couldn`t figure out why I was getting death looks. And then I realized my 10-month old baby`s wearing a hat with the word Pervert written on it and these people were like, `There`s Satan! There`s Satan out with his kid!` And then I made a point of her wearing it every time we went there.”

“I started watching golf for the first time yesterday. I`m really worried about myself. I was actually enjoying it.”

"I`m doing my bit for the women`s movement. The women have always been naked in movies and now I`m just desperate to take my clothes off as much as possible."

"I`ve been naked in almost everything I`ve been in, really. I have it written into my contract."

"Isn`t Halle Berry the most beautiful woman? I have a film I`d like to be in her with. I mean, I`d like to be with her in." - At the 2002 Golden Globe Awards commenting to Melissa Rivers on Halle Berry, who just walked by.

"(My fans) say, `I`ve seen Star Wars and Moulin Rouge!. What else should we try to see you in?` I always tell `em to get The Pillow Book (1996). That would be a bit of an eye-opener for them, wouldn`t it?" (Side note: The Pillow Book is major major sexy times.)

In context, he's talking about the sexy times in movies. "It`s not like I`ll play a carpenter and wear nothing but a tool belt while constructing a dresser. That`s just not safe. "

"Lying down from 50 feet, I was perfect. So I could really kill someone. Which is always good to know (On learning how to use a gun in _Black Hawk Down (2001)_)"

"My dad saw my full package in The Pillow Book (1996) and said `I`m glad to see you inherited one of my major attributes`."

"As a child I was taken to the pantomime or the theatre and I would always, always fall in love with somebody on the stage. And want to have sex with them."

"Then I watched the first episode of Star Wars over and over again. I loved it as a kid. It was a bit funny to be paid for it. I`d say to my wife, "I`ve got to go and watch Star Wars again, Sorry. I just haven`t quite got it...Brilliant."

Also a nerd.

When filming in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), he kept imitating the noise of the lightsaber during his fights. George Lucas explained many times that this would be added in by the special effects people later on. Ewan said "I keep getting carried away.".

On family (he has three girls):

“I got married because I fell in love with this woman. I had a baby with her because we wanted to have children. But that's not because of some philosophical ideal at all, no."

“People are incredibly rude about it sometimes. Like, `What? You`re married?` Strange reaction to have. Proves what people`s ideas about marriage are. `We`re having a baby.` `What?` As if it`s the end of the world. Of course, it`s the start of a brilliant world.”

“No, I`m putting it away, trying to buy a house for my family. The goal is to use the money to move into a big house, so my daughter can have a garden.”

"Clara`s 16 months, and she`s really brilliant. She started talking, half in French and half in English. I don`t speak French near as well as her."

Is very particular about his children being photographed or seen on television.

Refused to have his wife and kids visit him on the set of Black Hawk Down (2001), because he felt the content was too violent and too bloody for them to see.

Ewan, a UNICEF ambassador, adopted a 4-year-old girl from Mongolia, named Jamyan, whom he met while traveling around the world in 2004. (April 2006).

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!

Pictures & .gifs galore.