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""It was with the same crew, it was a fantastic atmosphere. It's a shame that when you work so tightly with people for 9 or 10 weeks, that you just bugger off and never see each other again. So it was great to all come back and do something else, because that energy carries on through to the next film," he says.
Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, as soon as the anime pillow love film wrapped, he donned period garb for Jane Austen's Emma, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette and Greta Scacchi. Then came Brassed Off, the story of a colliery brass band co-starring Tara Fitzgerald.
Soon after the birth of his first child he headed off with his family (he is married to Eve, a graphic designer) to Hollywood to film a studio picture, Nightwatch, the remake of a Danish thriller set in a city morgue. The film marks his first time of acting with a major star, Nick Nolte.
""Nick Nolte was great," McGregor enthuses genuinely. ""He still has a passion for what he does, which is unusual for someone of that standing. Usually such careers become all about stardom, but he's still very passionate about what he does and is very into his work. He helped me a lot. There was a great feeling between us in our scenes."
Next up is The Serpent's Kiss, in which he again co-stars with Greta Scacchi. Set in 1699 and to be shot in Ireland, the story tells of a craftsman who falls in love with both the daughter and wife of his employer. ""It's a wild, fascinating story about nature and deceit," he says. Then at the end of the year he will work with the Shallow Graves/Trainspotting team once more, on a romance titled A Life Less Ordinary, to be filmed in the US with a much bigger budget than their previous offerings.
Romance is something to which McGregor should be imminently suited, given his penchant for old Hollywood films _ his personal hero is Jimmy Stewart.
""The films of the 30s and 40s were about the same things _ violence, sex, money, passion _ as the films of today," he says. ""But you couldn't portray the characters nearly as literally as you can these days. It was so much more evocative _ a breast you could almost see was more attractive than a breast you could fully see. I find the old films passionate and erotic and I do love them still."
So you really are the romantic type? ""Well, I like the playing of all that and it's a shame we can't do it any more," he says.
The prospect of being viewed as a sex symbol doesn't bother him either. ""People can say that and that's fine," he says, still wearing his trademark sloppy sweater and jeans. ""It's something that can happen because you're in movies."
HAMMER HEADS: Spud (Ewen Bremner), Renton (Ewan McGregor), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) and below, the junky trio from Trainspotting with ...., second from right.
I had a need to be different and stand out from the crowd I've never given up. I've got a lot of hope, a lot of ambition, and a future. I'm lucky
