Esther McGregor Reflects on Her Famous Family and Finding Her Path

Elle

22-05-2025

Justin French
Mididress, boots, Gucci. Bracelet, ring, Van Cleef & Arpels.
It was one of the most significant moments of her career, and Esther McGregor was experiencing it on her phone. When two major projects,
and
, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, she was an ocean away, filming her new series
We Were Liars
in Nova Scotia. 'I felt the excitement through my iPhone,' she recalls. 'I was reading the articles sent to me in the midst of the craze of filming, and being like, Whoa.'
We Were Liars
is McGregor's first costarring role, and while she's tried a lot of things (modeling, music, and tattoo artistry), she knows now that there's only one central thing she's meant to be doing. 'I live and breathe acting,' she says. She's doing a lot of it. In the past 18 months, she's been able to work with legends like Pedro Almodóvar, Nicole Kidman, Halina Reijn, Julianne Moore, and Tilda Swinton (McGregor is a big Narnia fan). She recently booked a role in the film
Clean Hands
as Zach Braff's daughter.
Justin French
Mididress, Gucci. Ring, Van Cleef & Arpels.
Working with this caliber of director is particularly meaningful for someone who was raised immersed in international film. McGregor's father is actor Ewan McGregor, and her mother, Eve Mavrakis, is a production designer. Growing up surrounded by acting only helped grow her love of the craft. 'I definitely came out singing, for sure,' she says. 'But being in close proximity to anything will build its charm—I immediately fell in love with it.'
'But being in close proximity to anything will build its charm—I immediately fell in love with [acting].'
Her background and advantages gave her career a boost, and also provided her with an example of what it could look like. 'I want to give the gratitude that I think deserves its place, in terms of being raised in a family in film. Being able to be on sets really aided that love and that breath and that heartbeat. As much as I don't think I would be able to do anything else, who knows? It was the way that I was born, the world I was born into. So I feel very thankful that I'm able to do what I do, because I need it.'
Justin French
Blazer, shirt, trousers, Saint Laurent.
Before she gained renown for her acting, McGregor caught the public eye as a model for brands like Miu Miu and Dolce & Gabbana. It was something that she'd first dabbled in as a student at NYU, as a multidisciplinary major that incorporated fashion. 'I randomly started doing little photo shoots with my sister [model and actress Clara McGregor] and with people around New York City, like artists and my friends that were selling clothes' and needed someone to model them. 'It just [turned] into something a bit bigger than I thought it would be,' she says.
Justin French
Mididress, boots, Gucci. Bracelet, ring, Van Cleef & Arpels.
Music is also important to McGregor. She released an EP with fellow musician and longtime friend Leo Major, as part of the duo French Thyme. She also loves tattoo art. She got into it when auditions and acting opportunities slowed down during the pandemic, opening a tattoo shop called Pink Ether, right by the Empire State Building, with her friend Melissa Monroe. 'It's like a therapeutic heartbeat...I've always been fascinated with tattoo artists and the art, but I never imagined myself being in that position. Now I can't imagine myself living without it,' McGregor says. 'When I'm home on my time off, I do it. I do it whenever I can.'
Pink Ether closed when she moved back to Los Angeles, but the art remains important to her. She even celebrated the last day of filming
We Were Liars
in Canada by tattooing one of the show's crew.
'Something that I have to work on daily is this idea of perfection, and having to make sure that you are perfect for everyone at all times.'
Justin French
Blazer, shirt, trousers, Saint Laurent.
'I couldn't sit still when I was little, and I couldn't do everything that I wanted to do. My mom was great and really taught me how to be bored. But I birthed way too many hobbies,' McGregor explains. 'I'm glad that I've solidified them down to a few, and that I let them come and go when they need to.'
She sees some of her own passion in Mirren, her teenage character in
We Were Liars
, a Prime Video adaptation of the ultra-popular 2014 book by E. Lockhart. McGregor was thrilled at the chance to play a younger character who reminded her of herself. 'I tried to conquer the world the same way that she did at that age. I was poisoned with empathy, and I found it really hard to be deceiving, or to be untruthful and messy and not perfect,' she says. 'She's one of the first characters I've played who has this bounciness of youth. Her youth is very energetic.'
Justin French
Mididress, Gucci. Bracelet, ring, Van Cleef & Arpels.
Mirren has also helped McGregor confront challenges of her own: 'In my personal life, and I think Mirren is the same way, I will always be able to be happy for others and in front of others, but hold a lot of emotion and deep feeling,' she says. 'Something that I have to work on daily is this idea of perfection, and having to make sure that you are perfect for everyone at all times.' One of the many things she loves about acting? It lets her see more of herself.
Hair by
Sami Knight for Rehab
; makeup by Alexandra French at Forward Artists; manicure by Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group; produced by Anthony Federici at Petty Cash Production; photographed at Malibu Creek Ranch.
A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE.
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