Ewan McGregor Used to Show His Kids the Toilet Scene From Trainspotting

Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor has revealed he used to show his kids that bizarre scene in which he disappears down a toilet.

Speaking at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (as reported by Variety), McGregor explained why he showed the scene to his daughter “just for a laugh”.

“I wasn’t there when [my daughter] Clara watched Trainspotting for the first time,” he said. “But I did used to show my kids the toilet scene. Just for a laugh.”

Trainspotting stars McGregor as the quintessential ‘90s druggie, Mark ‘Rent Boy’ Renton, and that particular scene shows him clambering into a toilet bowl and swimming down inside it to retrieve a handful of opium suppositories he’s using to ween himself off heroin.

“It’s a unique situation, perhaps, for a father to be able to show his children footage of him going down the toilet,” he added.

It’s not the only film he’s traumatized his kids with, either. McGregor also stirred a troubling reaction from his daughter with the film Moulin Rouge.

“I have a memory of showing Clara Moulin Rouge!” he revealed. “I think she was nine 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!’ ”

Eventually, McGregor starred alongside his daughter in You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder. “It was a beautiful experience,” he recalled. “We had an opportunity to spend that period of time really together, which is unusual. Day one, we arrived, saw each other at the make-up truck, and chit-chatted. From that moment on, it was natural and just… normal. It allowed us to be together.”

You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder sees a father and daughter trying to reconnect after the daughter overdoses, with much of the film spent on the way to rehab.

“You don’t act in front of your daughter, and you don’t act in front of your dad,” he said. “You act with them and that’s the beauty of it. You are finding that moment of truth. When you do that with someone you know and love as much as you love your own daughter, it’s extraordinary. It never felt anything other than free and wonderful.”

“I’m so fortunate to do what I love and love what I do,” he added. “But one of the many highlights of what I have done to date has been acting with my daughter.”

Want to read more about Ewan McGregor? Check out why McGregor really wants Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 as well as what it was like to film those big lightsaber duels.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.