JIMMY KIMMEL: Hey, thanks for coming.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Thanks for having me again.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Very good to see you.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Great to be here. JIMMY KIMMEL: Is this--
EWAN MCGREGOR: How are you?
JIMMY KIMMEL: I'm doing well, thank you.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Good. Good.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Is this an Obi Wan beard or is this just a beard?
EWAN MCGREGOR: It's sort of a practice Obi Wan, you know?
JIMMY KIMMEL: Ah, interesting.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It's not the real deal
yet, because I've got something to shoot before I shoot that.
JIMMY KIMMEL: OK.
EWAN MCGREGOR: But it's a little practice.
It's just a little lazy beard. JIMMY KIMMEL: I see.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You're testing it out to see how it's going.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And do people like it?
Do you find that people are reacting positively to it?
EWAN MCGREGOR: To the beard? JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: People don't say much about it, I guess.
JIMMY KIMMEL: They don't? EWAN MCGREGOR: No.
JIMMY KIMMEL: I think it looks good.
I think it's a good-looking beard.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Thanks, man.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, you're welcome.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I mean, I put a lot of work into it.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: Is it maybe-- could you use it on Halloween?
Do you dress up for Halloween?
Or when you're an actor, is that not something--
EWAN MCGREGOR: No, we really dress up.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You really dress up.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I mean, we really--
because that's what we do. JIMMY KIMMEL: Right, yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And we do it. We do it.
I've done it over the years, many very successful costumes.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And well, are you going to have one this year?
EWAN MCGREGOR: This year I'm not going to be here.
I've got to go away, but I do enjoy it,
and I've been doing it since.
In Scotland, we used to do it.
And when we were kids, it was sort of different there.
There wasn't trick or treating.
We called it guising. And that was--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Guising? EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
And you just dressed up, and you went out,
and it didn't have to, as I recall--
I mean, it's difficult to remember when
you're five, or six, or seven.
It didn't have to be all bloody and horror-y.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Right.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It was just-- you just dressed up as someone.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Like disguising, it's guising, yeah?
EWAN MCGREGOR: I think that's maybe where it came from.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And you had to do a thing.
You'd have to, I suppose, like trick or treating,
although we didn't know that term then.
You had to do a little song or a dance,
or not dance, maybe, but a song, or a poem.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Really?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Or tell a limerick or something.
And then the person would give you a sweetie.
We called it a candy.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And so it was like a talent show in a way?
EWAN MCGREGOR: You were expected to earn it.
You had to earn it with-- JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow
EWAN MCGREGOR: --with your creative talent.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And what would you do?
Like, a Sheena Easton song or something?
What would happen there?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Well, maybe Bay City Rollers.
JIMMY KIMMEL: "Morning Train"?
EWAN MCGREGOR: More of a Bay City Rollers type thing.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh.
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Small Faces or something.
I don't know.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: Maybe a little Jethro Tull.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Something thrown in like that.
Yeah, that'd be nice. JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
That's very interesting. EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: It is kind of interesting, the differences,
because we just, because we're Americans,
we assume everybody does everything the way we do it.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It's just massive here.
Like it's turned into Christmas.
I mean, it's another Christmas, isn't it?
It's a-- I love that about America,
that there's just all these huge celebrations
throughout the year.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Is that not the case?
EWAN MCGREGOR: No, really the case.
JIMMY KIMMEL: --elsewhere.
EWAN MCGREGOR: You just get a bunch
of people dressed up as things going out,
trying to get sweets.
JIMMY KIMMEL: What's the best candy
you would get in Scotland?
Do you remember?
Like, the thing that you prized more than anything?
EWAN MCGREGOR: I loved-- there was that bar.
There was a little bar.
I don't know if it still exists, but there
was a little chocolate toffee, chocolate
bar that was called The Texan.
And it was-- JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It was really difficult
toffee to eat with chocolate around
and, you would sort of like.
[GROANING]
Yeah, bit like that. JIMMY KIMMEL: The Texan.
EWAN MCGREGOR: They think it made you look like a Texan.
[GROANING] [LAUGHING]
No.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Like a piece of jerky or something.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah, like so.
But it would take you 20 minutes to eat
because it was so hard to get through this toffee.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: That was my favorite.
JIMMY KIMMEL: How about that?
That's always so interesting to me
when these different-- you have these perceptions
of these regions in the United States.
Like, Texan is thing over there.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Well, they thought of as the--
because I mean, I guess otherwise, just a cowboy.
But no, we had The Texan bar. JIMMY KIMMEL: You had The Texan.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Which was really hard to eat.
JIMMY KIMMEL: How about that. EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah. EWAN MCGREGOR: There you go.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, maybe you'll get a Texan.
Maybe Santa will bring you some Texans--
EWAN MCGREGOR: Maybe, if they're--
JIMMY KIMMEL: --down the Halloween chimney.
EWAN MCGREGOR: If they're still being made.
I'm just giving them quite a big advert,
so I should get maybe a little box.
JIMMY KIMMEL: So now, I want to talk about this,
because I know that you'd been hiding
this Obi Wan Kenobi stuff.
You weren't able to talk about it.
Right?
For a long time, right?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And I would imagine
that it became annoying.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It just got it difficult.
I was brought up to tell the truth,
and I was in a situation where I wasn't really allowed to,
because the studios and the big franchises,
they want to keep every-- and rightly so.
They want to keep everything very secret
and it's as closed as it can be.
But at the same time, there's this overwhelming amount
of speculation online, and on social media,
and what have you.
And wherever I went for the last 15 years, people would ask me,
so would you do it again?
And would you do it?
Once they started doing spin-offs, of course everyone
was like, are you going to do an Obi Wan Kenobi spin-off?
And I was talking to Lucasfilm and Disney about that.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Mm-hmm, and you couldn't say it.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Well, of course, I couldn't say that I was.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Right, right.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So, I'd have to go, well, eh, you know,
I'd be-- if they wanted to do one,
I'd be quite interested in doing it.
And it started to look a bit like I was
just trying to get the part. JIMMY KIMMEL: Uh-huh.
Oh yeah, I know. So we could go back--
EWAN MCGREGOR: Which a amount of my standing
was quite humiliated, so--
JIMMY KIMMEL: We could go back through those tapes
and see what it looks like when you lie.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Oh, you could. JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Well, I'm probably, hopefully quite good
at it, and so are my children. JIMMY KIMMEL: I guess so.
That's basically what you do for a living.
Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I mean, it sort of like, hurt me inside.
It was like-- and it started to hurt my pride,
'cause I thought people actually think they're
considering someone else.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You know, it's kind of sad now.
Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: You know what I mean?
Like, they're looking for someone else to play the part.
JIMMY KIMMEL: So they had this big event at Disneyland.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yes, which was nuts.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Which was crazy, right?
Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I had a William Shatner moment on there.
JIMMY KIMMEL: What do you mean by that?
[LAUGHING]
EWAN MCGREGOR: It sounds a bit like something else,
doesn't it? No.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: Did you change your pants after your William
Shatner moment? EWAN MCGREGOR: Oh!
Hello. Er.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: You know, I never thought about that,
but yeah, it's a weird last name.
[LAUGHING]
EWAN MCGREGOR: No.
William Shatner wrote a book.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yes. [APPLAUDING]
EWAN MCGREGOR: Hey, Shatner.
Oh dear.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh, the Shatners are coming over tonight.
Open the windows. EWAN MCGREGOR: Oh, ho, ho, ho!
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: He had a real William.
Anyway.
No, good William Shatner wrote a book called "Get a Life," where
he describes going to his--
I think his life was in a difficult place,
and he went to his first, what are they called?
Convention. JIMMY KIMMEL: Star, yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Star.
In his case, "Star Trek" convention.
JIMMY KIMMEL: "Star Trek" convention, yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And he was overwhelmed
by this sense of love from the people,
and it changed his life.
I mean, he wrote this book about it called "Get a Life."
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wait a minute. You read William Shatner's book?
EWAN MCGREGOR: No.
[LAUGHING]
We--
JIMMY KIMMEL: I mean, I can't imagine.
What, were you at the airport and then there's
Shatner looking back at you?
You're like, you know what?
I'm going to grab this and put it on and go on a plane.
How did this happen?
What kind of?
What? What?
EWAN MCGREGOR: No, it's worse.
It's worse than that.
Ahmed Best, Ahmed Best, bless him,
who played Jar Jar Binks and I--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Right?
EWAN MCGREGOR: --ordered it on the set of "Star Wars."
And we had it delivered, and we would read
it on the set of "Star Wars."
JIMMY KIMMEL: You would? EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow!
EWAN MCGREGOR: Just because we'd heard that somebody--
I just loved the idea of a book by William
Shatner called "Get a Life." JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I think we thought at that point
that, you know, it would be funny to read because
of the "Star Wars" of it all.
But anyway, it turned out to be him getting a life
from the, you know, it wasn't--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, but you know what?
Really, the message was to his fans, get a life!
EWAN MCGREGOR: Well--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Stop talking about "Star Trek" all the time.
I was TJ Hooker, for God's sake. EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
Yeah. Let's talk about that!
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, let's talk about Arthur!
Where's the convention for that stuff?
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So anyway, I went on still, back to just
me at Disneyland a couple of weeks
ago to announce that we're doing this Obi Wan thing.
And I walked on stage and was greeted with that sort of life
changing noise of excitement.
And it was just--
it just was a big moment for me.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It was like a real Shatner moment.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, maybe you'll write a book.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Shatner moment.
JIMMY KIMMEL: This would be a great book.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah. JIMMY KIMMEL: Shatner-ed.
[LAUGHING]
Well, think. You know?
We're going to think.
We'll come up with a title. EWAN MCGREGOR: We'll get it.
JIMMY KIMMEL: We'll come back with Ewan McGregor--
EWAN MCGREGOR: We'll get it. JIMMY KIMMEL: --after this.
We'll be right back.
[DISQUIETING MUSIC]
MAN: Gene?
JIMMY KIMMEL: That is Ewan McGregor in "Doctor Sleep,"
which, as we can see from redrum,
is the sequel to "The Shining"--
EWAN MCGREGOR: That's right.
JIMMY KIMMEL: --which does-- you play Danny, the little boy.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I play the little boy grown up, yes.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You still ride the big wheel or no?
[LAUGHING]
EWAN MCGREGOR: There should have been
a shot where I'm just closing the garage and it's in there.
JIMMY KIMMEL: By the way, I know "The Shining" is one
of the great movies of all time, but I've only watch pieces
of because I get too scared, especially when I
know a movie is really good.
I steer clear of it--
Yes.
--because they're scary.
EWAN MCGREGOR: I didn't watch it for a--
I didn't watch it for the same reason for a long time.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh, really? EWAN MCGREGOR: I was--
I--
JIMMY KIMMEL: How old before you watched it?
EWAN MCGREGOR: I was--
I was at drama school like, looking at actors work,
you know?
And I realized I'd avoided it because I was so scared of it,
because it had the reputation of being the most
terrifying film ever made. JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And I was-- when I was 12,
or 13, or something, I was--
I used to play in the pipe, school pipe band.
JIMMY KIMMEL: The what?
EWAN MCGREGOR: The school pipe band.
I was a side drummer in the pipe band.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Like a bagpipe band?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah. Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So, I was a side drummer.
So, we went on tour.
We toured, for some bizarre reason, to Holland.
So we were-- there was a place in Holland called Den Bosch,
and we were there for a week playing in different squares,
and I don't know what the hell we were doing there,
but we were playing our pipes and our drums.
And the guy that set it up owned the cinema complex.
And one night, he thought, oh, we'll
enter-- it was probably just to give the teachers a break
to go and have a few pints.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Mm-hmm.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And they screened the movie for us
all, kids, children.
So, they put us in this little screening
room in the cinema complex and switched the lights off,
and it was Halloween.
JIMMY KIMMEL: What?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Right?
And I Shatner-ed myself.
[LAUGHING]
JIMMY KIMMEL: That's how you do it.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And when we--
but you're amongst other kids.
Your school, your peers.
And there was also kids who were a bit older than us,
and you didn't want to look like an idiot.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So yeah, it was-- it was great.
And I was just inside. I was like--
JIMMY KIMMEL: How old at this time?
EWAN MCGREGOR: --something bad's happened to me.
I think I was 12 years old or 13 years of age.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh my God! Why?
EWAN MCGREGOR: When we left, when we walked out,
the corridor light was broken.
It was dark.
The switch wouldn't go on, and the projectionist
had hung up a blanket all wet in the corridor.
So as we walked down, it hit us in the face.
I mean, jump out of our skin! JIMMY KIMMEL: What?
EWAN MCGREGOR: So, I never--
I thought, I'm never watching a horror movie again in my life!
You know?
JIMMY KIMMEL: What kind of sicko projectionist was this?
EWAN MCGREGOR: Sick sadist!
Sadist-- JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow!
EWAN MCGREGOR: --Dutch projectionist, you know?
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
Well.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So, I was totally put off it, too,
because then, "The Shining's" reputation
was, there is no scarier film.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow.
EWAN MCGREGOR: But when I did watch it--
and you should eventually because it is quite--
JIMMY KIMMEL: I'm going to watch it when I turn 75.
That's my plan.
I'm going to watch it at noon on a Saturday in my backyard.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Outside with a cable going out the back.
JIMMY KIMMEL: With the kids running around.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah, yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, and a wet blanket over my head.
EWAN MCGREGOR: It's quite an extraordinary movie
for many reasons, and it's not--
it's not a horror film like "Halloween."
It's something much scarier than that, because it's sort of--
Kubrick was doing something with your head.
I don't-- I don't quite--
Anyway, the most extraordinary thing about it
is that Stephen King then, you know, however many years later,
40 something years later, decided
to write a follow on novel.
He wanted to take the character of Danny
and some of the other themes from his original novel,
and he wrote this other novel called "Doctor Sleep,"
which is a brilliant book.
And we made the adaptation of that.
And of course, Mike Flanagan, the very
brilliant, talented, young director
had a very tricky job of pleasing these two camps,
because they were the fact there are and there will always
be the fans of Kubrick's movie.
And then there are the fans of Stephen King's novel,
"The Shining," and he made some quite bold changes to it.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh, really? EWAN MCGREGOR: Kubrick did.
JIMMY KIMMEL: So he's in trouble.
Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: And famously, King
never really liked that film. JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh, Steve?
Oh, yes.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Steven King didn't really like it.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Right, right.
EWAN MCGREGOR: So there was-- so Mike
managed to make the sequel.
And my only concern about it was,
how are you going to-- how are you
going to please both of these camps, you know, because--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
EWAN MCGREGOR: But he does he does it very
cleverly and very beautifully.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Oh!
EWAN MCGREGOR: And you wouldn't know, because you
have never seen the movie. JIMMY KIMMEL: I'll never know.
I'll never know.
EWAN MCGREGOR: He does something brilliant with it--
JIMMY KIMMEL: But I take your word for it.
I would--
EWAN MCGREGOR: --with the ending of our film
that will appease the Stephen King fans who were aggrieved
with Kubrick, I think. JIMMY KIMMEL: Very nice.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, it's very good to see you.
EWAN MCGREGOR: Nice to see you, too.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Ewan McGregor.
Everybody, it's called "Doctor Sleep."
It opens in theaters November 8.
Ewan McGregor.
We'll be right back with Linda Hamilton!