Latest news with #EwanMcGregor


Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Charley Boorman: Potholes? You should see the ones Ewan and I faced in Kazakhstan
It's no consolation to anyone who's recently suffered a punctured tyre or damaged alloy wheel due to a pothole, but the next time you're cursing the state of Britain's roads, count yourself lucky that you don't live in Kazakhstan. 'We'd been given a police escort out of town,' motorcycle adventurer and TV presenter Charley Boorman recalls. 'They then pulled over to the side of the road and just waved us on. We went on for another mile or so, and then this road that we were on … it was meant to take a day to get across [but] it took us almost two and a half days. It was a dead straight road through the desert that looked like a runway that had been bombed about 20 times, and it was just all over. There were potholes you'd drive into and you would disappear and come out the other end. I mean, it was extraordinary.' So, maybe we Brits shouldn't complain too much? 'Yeah, I think it's pretty good here.' Boorman sat down with us at his home ahead of the airing of a new series for Apple TV+ in which he and his motorcycling compadre, the actor Ewan McGregor, travel on 1970s motorcycles, from McGregor's house near Perth, Scotland, through Europe and Scandinavia, down to Boorman's home in the south of England. • Read more expert reviews, news and insights on cars and motoring Long Way Home follows three earlier series, beginning with with Long Way Round in 2004. That first trip covered 9,000 miles, from London to New York City, via Europe, Asia and America. In 2007, the pair followed it up with Long Way Down, which saw them journey from John o' Groats in Scotland through 18 countries across Europe and Africa, ending in Cape Town in South Africa. They donned their helmets again in 2019 for Long Way Up, which aired the following year. That ride took them from Argentina through South and Central America, finishing in Los Angeles. Boorman, son of the film director John Boorman, met McGregor on the set of The Serpent's Kiss in 1997 and the pair immediately connected over a passion for motorcycles. 'It was my big comeback movie because I was an actor before I did all this. It was Pete Postlethwaite, Greta Scacchi, Richard E Grant, Ewan McGregor … and Charley Boorman. And I was like, you know, 'I'm back'.' While the movie tanked and his acting career didn't take off in the way he had hoped, the experience still changed Boorman's life for ever. 'The film just went straight to DVD but we had a great time, and when I first met Ewan … I went up and said hello to him and said, 'You've got a Moto Guzzi California.' And he went, 'Yeah, I love motorbikes, what have you got?'' The conversation sparked a 30-year friendship as well as a jointly owned, championship-winning National Superstock 1000 racing team (part of British Superbikes support series), countless track days and long weekends away on motorbikes. And then, of course, came the idea to go further — in more than one sense. 'We ended up doing Long Way Round,' Boorman tells me. 'I've got so much to thank Ewan for really because my acting career had gone the wrong way — I'm heavily dyslexic and was really struggling to learn lines. I wasn't enjoying acting any more; it was stressing me out too much. 'I was getting less and less films and I was doing more and more painting and decorating, and doing people's houses up, and that was over a ten-year period. It was really hard to realise that your dream of being an actor and having quite a lot of success was over. So I was coming to terms with being a builder and I felt I'd let my family down, really, because I wasn't doing what I said I would do. It was quite a difficult time.' Then came a call from McGregor — he'd had a brainwave. 'I went round to his house, and he had this big map out and said, 'Look, I think we should do this.' And I was like, 'OK'.' Boorman didn't have the financial means to drop his work and leave his family for four and a half months, though, so came to an arrangement with his colleagues on the newly formed Long Way production team (which includes film-makers David Alexanian and Russ Malkin). 'I had five grand in the bank — that's all I had to my name,' Boorman explains. 'I had to make a deal with Russ and Dave and Ewan that I would get a weekly salary, because we didn't have enough money to pay ourselves.' A book deal helped to finance the trip itself. 'After that, I didn't have anything to lose by going.' '[It all came about] because of Ewan's generosity,' Boorman is at pains to point out. 'He's a very kind and generous, nice person, you know — very caring. And I think he realised that…' Boorman's sentence tails off, though the suggestion is that McGregor had spotted his friend was struggling in more ways than one. After Long Way Round, Boorman fulfilled a lifelong dream of entering the gruelling Dakar Rally, creating a show about the experience called Race to Dakar. He also made documentaries about motorbike trips from England to Sydney, then Sydney to Tokyo, and another charting a journey that took in the four extremities of Canada. Building on these adventures, Long Way Home was conceived as a stark contrast to McGregor and Boorman's previous trip. Long Way Up was a tricky one to organise and shoot, Boorman says — not only as it involved filming in foreign countries but also because he and McGregor chose to use electric motorcycles: a pair of Harley Davidson LiveWires. 'That was a real challenge,' he tells me. 'There are no fast chargers in South America, Central America or Mexico, and it was only the last four or five days [in the US] that we had access to them. So it was very complicated. And although it was amazing fun, we lost a little bit of freedom in the fact that we couldn't just stop and camp on the side of the road like we had done in the last two, Long Way Round and Long Way Down, and because you always had to plug in [overnight] as there were no fast chargers. It was a little limiting for that.' Europe and Scandinavia would have been much better suited to electric vehicles, thanks to a more mature charging infrastructure (Norway, in particular, is considered the EV capital of the world, with about 10,000 rapid chargers and almost 90 per cent of new car sales in 2024 being fully electric). But for Long Way Home, McGregor and Boorman returned to combustion bikes to avoid any need for compromise. It also adds an extra element of jeopardy, in terms of the potential for breakdowns — especially as the bikes chosen are about 50 years old. 'When you ride these old bikes, you only have an 85 per cent chance of finishing the day,' Boorman says. 'So they come with their problems.' The main reason for choosing them, though, was that McGregor wanted to stretch the legs of one of the favourites in his collection: a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado police bike. 'Ewan's owned it for about 10 or 12 years, and he loves her. She's a gorgeous, gorgeous thing.' Boorman had to find something of similar vintage, settling on a 1973 BMW R75/5. 'I was looking at Ducatis,' Boorman says, 'but a lot of Ducatis in those days were quite sporty bikes and around the mid-Seventies, they had real reliability issues. So I wasn't sure what to do.' A German brand might prove more reliable, he thought, before spotting a BMW R75 that had been customised by a specialist for someone else. 'It was really nice because the whole front part up to the petrol tank is all original, and then the back he kind of modernised and made it like a café racer. Kind of a retro look — and I really liked the look of it.' Boorman convinced the owner to sell it to him, and then resprayed it from the original blue to his trademark burnt orange. 'I've got a quite a thing about orange bikes,' Boorman explains, and that's clear from a glance around his garage — the collection of bikes includes those from the TV shows, including the orange-hued Livewire used in series three. There's also a BMW used during his entry into the 2006 Dakar, which ended prematurely after he crashed and broke bones in one of his hands. Boorman has had a number of accidents on motorbikes, including one in 2016 during which he was clipped by a car, hit a wall and 'destroyed' both legs. But that was a small crash compared with what happened next. 'In 2018, I finally got over that [first crash]. I had cages around my leg and metal everywhere, but I had just got back to riding properly — not walking properly, but riding — and I had a much, much worse one. I just woke up in a hospital in Bloemfontein, in South Africa. I'd snapped my forearm — bent completely backwards, all the bones had come out. I broke my pelvis. I crushed my left side; broke all the ribs, collapsed lung. Head injury, brain swell, brain bleed, massive concussion.' Boorman says he doesn't remember the collision itself, only waking up 24 hours later in hospital. According to another account he has given, he has vague recollections of being transported to the hospital in the back of a pick-up truck, pleading with the driver to pull over because of the intense pain. 'That brought the number of operations up to 34 or 35. It has only been since the beginning of last year, 2024, when I started this trip with Ewan, that I've been able to walk properly. There's been a lot of pain.' Isn't it difficult to get back on the bike after such devastating accidents? 'It was pretty easy actually,' Boorman says. 'The motorcycles were the thing that kept me going — that at some point I'll be able to get back on a motorbike. 'I think if you ask people who ride horses, or ride motorcycles or bicycles or mountain bikes, or climb mountains — serious people who do it — a lot have probably had serious injuries, and all of them get back on. I don't know why; it just seems like the right thing to do. 'People talk about mental health, and about living in the present — not thinking about the past or, or wishing you were somewhere else or what's going to happen in the future. You get on your bike and you can only really think about what's going on at that moment. [It's about] those bits of decompression. 'If you've had a terrible day at work and you've got a 30-minute commute, by the time you get home, you feel great because everything's forgotten. [If] you drive home in the car, you're still working on the telephone, you're listening to the radio, you've got somebody sitting beside you … you're distracted. You're not given that chance. And then you get out the car and you're walking up to the house and you're still talking on the phone and kids come and say hello. And you're going, 'Shh, I'm on the phone,' when you shouldn't be. 'Ewan says it a lot. It really does help your mind, you know. It's mindfulness. Ever since I was six years old, I'd been doing mindfulness without realising. And I'll probably hopefully carry on right up to the end.' That's great for his mental health, I venture, but what does Boorman's wife think about it? Is there a conflict between self-care and ensuring that the ones you love aren't forced to suffer? He pauses. 'The first crash was very difficult,' he admits. 'Because it was both legs. It's very debilitating and it's a complete change of life. There was a moment where I could have lost my leg. There was a real moment whether or not we could have kept it. And so she had to go through all of that. And then, to go through another one … you know, she was more pissed off and angry about the second one! She goes, 'If I have to go down to f***ing get you again, I'm going to f***ing…' 'And fair enough, you know. She's not wanting to, but has to pick up the pieces. And then I go off again. 'But she's not that bothered. If I spend too much time at home, I see that there's a suitcase sitting by the front door. 'Time to go now, Charley.'' Which suggests that, even in their mid- to late-fifties, Long Way Home is unlikely to mark the end of McGregor and Boorman's motorcycling adventures. Is another series in the works already? 'I don't know,' Boorman tells me. 'I think, like everyone, we get close to the end [of one journey] and we start to talk about another one, because you don't want to let the one that you're on end. So, yes, we have spoken about it — but who knows?' Long Way Home is available globally on Apple TV+


Forbes
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Ewan McGregor's 1973 Moto Guzzi Is On The Auction Block
Ewan McGregor on his Moto Guzzi A custom 1973 Moto Guzzi V7Sport previously owned by motorcycle enthusiast Ewan McGregor is up for sale on the eBay Motors Marketplace. McGregor is an expert rider and avid collector, and obtained this motorbike in 2010. Now, McGregor is reportedly moving back to the U.K. and is culling his herd of motorized toys, including this motorcycle. Hand-built by Powerplant Motorcycles in Los Angeles, the fully-restored sport bike includes a freshly rebuilt motor, fully balanced T3 crankshaft, meticulously restored gauges, and a Hjeltness V7Sport seat cover. Driven by the man who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in three Star Wars movies (Episode I–The Phantom Menace, Episode II–Attack of the Clones, and Episode III–Revenge of the Sith), this is a vintage, rare motorcycle with Hollywood provenance. Not to be too obvious, but the Force is with this machine. 1973 Moto Guzzi This Motorcycle Stars In a New Apple TV Series Recognized as Moto Guzzi's first true V-twin sporting machine, the V7 Sport oozes 1970s-era styling. A large headlamp lights the road ahead and beefy drum brakes provide stopping power, while a chromed exhaust pipe snakes across the side of the frame. It's vintage, classic, and it would be not just a ride… it's an experience. This very Moto Guzzi is seen in McGregor's garage in the first episode of "The Long Way Home" on Apple TV. The series is about a love affair with vintage motorcycles, friendship, and travel. Moe Moore from Cycle Garden in Indio, California, which restored the bike, says the motorcycle still looks fresh. Cycle Garden specializes in pre-1975 Moto Guzzis and prides itself on rebuilding its bikes like new. 'The paint was shot with a silver base coat and a Burgundy candy top coat to match the original Guzzi color tone,' Moore says in the listing. '[The] motor has our High Compression pistons 88mm (955cc) and fully balanced T3 Crankshaft for a super smooth and powerful ride.' Details: 1973 Moto Guzzi owned by Ewan McGregor Why This Moto Guzzi Is Special Moto Guzzi is a motorcycle company founded more than a century ago in Italy. Known for its air-cooled longitudinal V-twin engine configuration, Moto Guzzi is the oldest European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production today. Every bike made by this company is assembled by hand on the shores of Lake Como, in Mandello del Lario. These motorcycles are beautifully-made rolling works of art. Collectors like Moto Guzzi cycles for their Italian flair, distinctive styling, and classic appeal. Add Hollywood buzz to the mix, and this 1973 bike is a keeper. Fancy yourself Obi-Wan Kenobi (or Mark Renton in Trainspotting)? Light saber not included. Ewan McGregor paid $30,000 in 2010 to restore this Moto Guzzi. Since then, Cycle Garden has built four machines for McGregor and provided service for several others. Whomever decides to take on this classic motorbike next will have to be up for the next adventure. In any case, it comes with a one-year warranty from Cycle Garden; however, that just covers the drive train, so don't go laying it down on the pavement.


Malay Mail
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Irvine Welsh calls ‘Men in Love' an antidote to hate, criticises AI and social media
LONDON, July 12 — Scottish author Irvine Welsh on Friday described the new sequel to his cult novel Trainspotting as an antidote to a world full of 'hate and poison', as he took aim at social media, the internet and AI. Men in Love, the latest in a series of sequels, follows the same characters — Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie — as they experience the heyday of rave culture in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Welsh's novel was turned into the wildly successful 1996 hit film of the same name directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor. The black comedy drama featured a group of heroin addicts living in an economically-depressed part of Edinburgh. 'We're living in a world that seems to be so full of hate and poison. Now it's time I kind of focus more on love as a kind of antidote to all that,' Welsh said. Although his novel was published over 30 years ago, there were many parallels with the world today, he added. The 1980s demise of much heavy industry such as shipbuilding in the Leith area of Edinburgh heralded a new world for some 'without paid work'. 'Now we're all in that position. We don't know how long we'll have paid work, if we do have it, because our economy, our society, is in just a long form revolutionary transformation,' he told BBC radio. 'It's a big, contentious, messy revolution. There's lots to play for, but there's some very dystopian tendencies within it,' he added. Despite the problems faced by earlier generations, Welsh said he detected less optimism now. 'Natural stupidity' 'I think we're just a bit more scared... I think we've got this existential threat on the horizon, basically, of species extinction... through kind of wars and diseases and famines and climate change and no economic means for younger people to make their way in the world as we had,' he said. Welsh also took aim at artificial intelligence (AI), an internet appropriated by big corporations and a social media culture marred by 'vitriolic pile-ons'. He said the internet had stopped people from thinking and had created a 'controlling environment' in which 'we just take instruction'. 'We've got artificial intelligence on one side, and we've got a kind of natural stupidity on another side. We just become these dumbed down machines that are taking instruction. 'And when you get machines thinking for you, your brain just atrophies.' He said he hoped that people's current addiction to mobile phones would be a phase that runs its course. 'You look down the street and you see people with a phone stuck to their face. 'Hopefully, if we survive the next 50 years, that's going to look as strange on film as... people chain smoking cigarettes did back in the 80s,' he added. Men in Love is due to be published by Penguin on July 24. — AFP


Daily Record
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Ewan McGregor's roof repair plan for his Perthshire home rejected
His architects had told planners that the cracked lead roof is beyond repair and has caused 'water ingress'. Hollywood star Ewan McGregor's bid to fix the leaky roof of his listed £2.35m Perthshire mansion has been rejected by PKC. The local authority said in its decision that approval was contrary to planning and development policies. The 54-year-old Trainspotting actor bought the C-listed Glencarse House near Perth two years ago. He has already received permission for multiple upgrades at the home, set in more than 18 acres of Carse of Gowrie land and gardens. The villa was originally an Adam design dating to 1790, with alterations carried out in the late 1800s and 1920s. The latest application involved replacing a 'defective' lead roof with single-ply membrane Sarnafil and replacing existing skylights with double glazed units. His architects had told planners that the cracked lead roof is beyond repair and has caused 'water ingress'. But in a written decision PKC stated: '...The proposed replacement roof structure, single-ply membrane and PVC battens, and lantern rooflight features would not preserve the listed building's fine detail character and special architectural interest and would not be an appropriate solution or approach in protecting and enhancing the existing roof form and materiality.' The plans were contrary to Local Development Plan policy 'which favours retention and sympathetic restoration, as the proposed replacement roof structure' and the proposed features would 'adversely affect the listed building's character and special architectural interest, by virtue of reprofiling the roof, the use of non-traditional methods and materials.' A heritage officer's submission pointed out that 'a lead roof can last up to 200 years if it is installed and maintained correctly. 'Lead is also an infinitely recyclable material, making it a more environmentally sustainable choice relative to synthetic oil-based materials.' It was further stated: 'Potential theft is mentioned as a further reason to support the loss of the lead roof covering. 'Given the extensive CCTV coverage on site, Glencarse is unlikely to be vulnerable to lead theft. There is no evidence that the roof has been subject to theft in the past. No structural evidence has been provided demonstrating that the existing roof structure cannot take the weight of a lead roof, as suggested by the supporting statement. If this was the case, the roof structure could be upgraded under the guidance of a structural engineer.'


STV News
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Ewan McGregor denied permission to fix roof of £2m mansion by council
Scottish actor Ewan McGregor has been denied permission to fix the roof of his £2m mansion in Perth and Kinross. The Star Wars and Trainspotting star applied to the council to replace the lead roof of the 18th-century house with a single-ply membrane Sarnafil one. David Bell Architects said the existing lead roof is 'beyond repair' having suffered from fatigue cracking, splits, and failed flashings. They also argued: 'The building is at high risk due to the value of lead. Sarnafil has no resale value, making it a non-target for thieves and enhancing building security.' However, Perth and Kinross Council rejected the plans, ruling aspects of the repair would not preserve the 'fine detail character and special architectural interest' of the building. The council argued the redevelopment plan would require the use of 'non-traditional methods and materials'. They said in the report: 'The proposed replacement roof structure, single-ply membrane and PVC battens, and lantern roof light features would not preserve the listed building's fine detail character and special architectural interest and would not be an appropriate solution or approach in protecting and enhancing the existing roof form and materiality.' The 54-year-old actor bought the home in 2023 for £2.35m after it was placed on the market for offers over £2.15m. The building dates from 1789 and is set across more than 18 acres of land. It has a two-bedroom gate lodge, outbuildings, game larder and a tennis court. McGregor had previously been given permission for a replacement garage and a new master bedroom and bathroom suite. The actor also won a fight to repair 'yellowing' and 'water damage' to the mansion. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country