Ewan (pronounced You-in) Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in the small town of Crieff, a few miles north of Edinburgh, in Perthshire, Scotland. His father is James Charles Stewart McGregor, a P.E. teacher at Morrison Academy, and his mother is Carol Diane Lawson McGregor, also a teacher- she was born in 1944, and has acted as her son's personal assistant and has made audio descriptions of films for the blind. She recently was awarded a grant of 60,000 English pounds to make a film for Scotland's famous Tartan Shorts. Carol's brother, and Ewan's uncle, is Denis Lawson, a well known Scottish actor who has appeared in many Scottish films including Local Hero, and appeared in the first three Star Wars films. Ewan grew up in the rural town of Crieff, where he played knights in the forests, swam, loved to ride horses, and enjoyed doing Elvis impersonations for his parents and their friends. Although he enjoyed singing in the school choir and playing the French horn in the school orchestra, he didn't particularly enjoy going school at the Morrison Academy, and his parents encouraged him in his desire to follow his uncle into acting. At the age of 16, he left school and went to join the Perth Reperatory Theatre. He studied drama for a year at the Kirkcaldly in Fife, and then joined the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama in a three year course. Just before graduating, he left the school after he got the role of Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter's 1993 six-part UK TV series Lipstick on your Collar. After that role, his first significant role was that of Alex Law in Shallow Grave in 1994, and that was followed by roles in The Pillow Book, Trainspotting and Brassed Off in 1996. Ewan has an older brother Colin, 32, who is a pilot in the Royal Air Force, and is married, with a son..

While working on the TV show Kavannagh QC in 1994, Ewan met Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer. They were married in France in July, 1995, and have a daughter, Clara Mathilde, born in February, 1996, and another daughter, Esther Rose, born in November, 2001 in London. Clara survived a dangerous bout with meningistis in 1997. His wife has a son by a previous marriage. Ewan lives with his family in London, England, and takes them with him on locations whenever possible. Ewan has formed a production company with his friends, John Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee, Jude Law and Sadie Frost called Natural Nylon, with which they plan to make innovative and unconventional films.

For his role as the heroin addict in the film Trainspotting, Ewan lost 30 lbs., and was injected with saline solutions many, many times. He has no problem with doing frontal nudity in such films as Velvet Goldmine and The Pillow Book. He did his own singing in the films Emma, Velvet Goldmine and Moulin Rouge, and joined Jane Horrocks in one number on her cd, The Further Adventures of Little Voice. Ewan plays the guitar, drums and the French Horn.

Ewan's Television work began in 1989, with the series Tales from the Crypt, in which he appeared with Jane Horrocks in the episode Cold War, and in 1993 he appeared in the mini-series' Scarlet & Black & Lipstick on Your Collar, and in 1997 in the ER episode 'The Long Way Round', and one year earlier in the BBC mini-series 'Karaoke'.

His movie career began with a small part in the Robin Williams film Being Human, in 1993, followed by roles in Shallow Grave and Blue Juice, but his breakthrough role as the heroin addict in the 1996 drama Trainspotting, was a turning point in his career. That same year he starred in The Pillow Book, and the next year appear in Brassed Off, Emma, A Life Less Ordinary, The Serpent's Kiss and Nightwatch. In 1998 he appeared in Little Voice and Velvet Goldmine, but the following year brought him the role for which he is best known, that of the young Obi-Wan-Kenobi, in the prequel Star Wars Episode 1- The APhantom Menace. That year he also appeared in Rogue Trader and Eye of the Beholder/Voyeur. In 2001 he produced and starred in the James Joyce film Nora, and starred in the musical Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman. He has completed making the next Star Wars film, Episode II, filmed in Australia, which will debut in 2002, along with Blackhawk Down, an action film.

Ewan value his privacy very much and even founded an organization called Piople Against Papparazzi (PAP). He said of some unauthorized photos of his daughter Clara, it is 'a violation of her privacy and his human rights' and told BBC television "It takes away my right to protect my child." Ewan's favorite band is Oases and he was honored to introduce them at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. He doesn't like any film with Jim Carrey in it. He enjoys riding on motorbikes and racing, and owns several motorbikes. He once shared an apartment with Jude Law, one of his partners in the production company Natural Nylon. His favorite actor from the 1930's and 1940's is Jimmy Stewart. Ewan is very outspoken and doesn't hesitate to use strong language in interviews. He is a devoted family man, friendly , and full of energy and drive.