Ewan McGregor admits showing his kids Trainspotting toilet scene just ‘for a laugh’
All parents show their kids the movies that they love. And for actors, this is doubly enjoyable as they get to show them films they starred in.
You might think that Ewan McGregor would introduce his kids to his filmography with Star Wars. Something relatively fun, light and action packed.
A film like Trainspotting might not immediately spring to mind as a family film night must.
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Released in 1996, the movie follows a group of heroin addicts living in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh.
Talking at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the 52-year-old actor - who is father to 27-year-old Clara, 21-year-old Esther, and two-year-old Laurie, along with adopted children Jamyan and Anouck - said: "I wasn’t there when [my daughter] Clara watched Trainspotting for the first time.
"But I did used to show my kids ‘the toilet scene.’ Just for a laugh. It’s a unique situation, perhaps, for a father to be able to show his children footage of him going down the toilet."
This wasn't the only film of his that McGregor subjected his children to.
He continued: "I have a memory of showing Clara Moulin Rouge!, however. I think she was 9 years old.
"I put it on, and then I hear this wailing and crying. I rushed in, asking if I should switch it off and she went: ‘Noooo’!"
For anybody who's not in know about what happens during Trainspotting's 'toilet scene', here's a quick run down.
McGregor's character, Mark 'Rent Boy' Ronson, has taken some suppositories [drugs inserted into an orifice, in this case the anus].
He suddenly has the need to go to the bathroom, after a period of constipation due to his heroin use.
Rushing into a pub, he comes face to face with the 'worst toilet in Scotland'.
It's truly heinous, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Trudging his way across the floor, he heads into the cubicle and comes face to face with the dingiest toilet you've ever seen this side of a nightclub.
Reasoning that beggars can't be choosers, Ronson pulls down his pants and lets rip into the brown stained lavatory.
His relief comes at a price, however, when he realises that his suppositories have slipped out into the toilet.
After efforts to dig through the brown water prove futile, Ronson goes an extra step.
Going head first into the sludge, he slowly submerges himself until even his feet disappear beneath the toilet bowl.
Fortunately for him, he does find his pills and emerges triumphant - but undoubtedly smellier and wetter than he was before.
I can only imagine how McGregor's kids felt watching it - it was hard enough for me to stomach, and I've got a decade or two on them at this point.
Topics: Ewan McGregor, TV and Film
Ben Thompson