He is a Hollywood star who left home in his teens. And Ewan McGregor has now explained he moved back to Scotland to be closer to his family.
By STUART MACDONALD
Published: 21:18 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 21:18 BST, 23 August 2026
He is a Hollywood star who left home in his teens. And Ewan McGregor has now explained he moved back to Scotland to be closer to his family.
The actor said that as an added benefit, the relocation meant his son is picking up his native accent.
McGregor and his wife Mary Elizabeth Winsted quit the States last year and now live with their five-year-old son Laurie in a £2million mansion near his hometown of Crieff, in Perthshire.
The 55-year-old said he wanted the son, who was born across the Atlantic, to have the same idyllic childhood he had growing up.
He said: ‘I’ve got my little boy, who’s five, and he’s going to grow up there in much the same way that I did, which is nice.
‘The accent is not quite there yet but with anything that’s happening at school, like when he counts, he gets a wee bit Scottish.
‘He was counting the other day and I was like, “Yes, that’s it son”. It feels good. It feels really, really good.’
McGregor, who has four daughters with ex-wife Eve Mavrakis, said he decided to move back home after being separated from his elderly parents and his brother for two years during the Covid pandemic.
Ewan and wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead on the red carpet
McGregor with daughters Clara, Jamyan and Anouk from his previous marriage, and son Laurie with Winstead
McGregor is enjoying being able to 'pop round' and see his mum and dad
Speaking to Variety at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, he added: ‘There was something about seeing my parents two years older and not having seen them other than on a phone.
‘I just went up to my brother’s for a cup of tea with him and when I got back, I realised I’d never had that experience in my whole adult life, of being able to pop round.
‘I left home at 16 and I have always lived away from where my parents are.
‘I was really missing something all these years, but now I can jump on my bike and I’ll be at my mum and dad’s house in half an hour.
‘I’m surprised how effortless it’s been. I didn’t imagine it, but I’m really glad of it and I feel very comfortable there.’
Trainspotting star McGregor’s Scottish home is a Category C-listed 10 bedroom property which was bought for £2.35million.
The property comes with a gate lodge and a courtyard of outbuildings and has more than 15,000sq ft of living space on three floors, with a two-bedroom flat, stores and a wine cellar.
Last month it was announced McGregor will appear alongside Alan Cumming in a new play at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
The two actors will play a gay couple coming to terms with a life-changing dementia diagnosis in an adaptation of the feature film drama Supernova, which starred Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth.
The production will run at the theatre from July 24 to August 21 next year.