Did you know Ewan McGregor is currently on Broadway, starring in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing? I didn’t know that, honestly. Ewan has been in NYC for a few months already, working and previewing the play. To promote his Broadway debut, Ewan sat down with Details for an interview that covered a lot of bases in a short time – you can read the full piece here. Some fun facts: Ewan is 43 years old and he has a college-aged daughter. He even says his oldest, Clara, has started college in NYC. Isn’t that crazy? Some highlights:

Why he’s never done Broadway before: “I was never asked to do it! No, I’ve got a wife and kids, and I was never willing to move my whole family from L.A. to New York. It’s such a clever play, and I get to be smart and a bit smug and arrogant every night. And I didn’t have to come up with any of these clever thoughts on my own, which is the beauty of being an actor, really.”

Becoming a father at the age of 24: “You’re very idealistic at that age. You think you know it all, and in a way, you do. I see it in my daughter Clara, who’s just starting college in New York City. I remind her that I’ll be giving her a call every night after the play is over: “Where are we going?” She’d be like, “F–k you, Dad. Get out of my life.” You’re starting college, Clara…but I’m coming with you.”

Star Wars fans: “I don’t have any experience with them. I’ve never been to one of the conventions. The people I meet are the f–kers who want me to sign Star Wars photos so they can sell them on the Internet or the people at premieres who are crushing children against barriers to get me to sign their f–king picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi. They’re not fans—they’re parasitical lowlifes and f–king wankers.”

Whether The Phantom Menace is really all that bad: “I watched it once, at the premiere, so I’m not in a good position to judge. They had a tall order, the three films I did. The fans waited so long and wanted to feel like they did when they watched the first film, but they were grown-ups by that time. I don’t mind the criticism. I’ve heard it to my face.”

He was partying a lot around that time: “I did party very hard. I used to like it. Because of Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, I was very well-known in Britain, where I lived then. At the end of the millennium, I was meeting people who had an idea of who I was before I even talked to them. I would recognize this look on their face as they were seeing if they were right or wrong about me. It makes you feel very lonely. I partied hard, wherever I was, whenever I was. It wasn’t Star Wars’ fault.”

Whether he’s done a film just for the money: “There have been films I’ve done where I’ve been very happy to have reached my last day on set, but not many. And I’ve never started a film with anything other than enthusiasm.”

He thinks The Island is a good movie: “I did make a good movie with Michael Bay! The Island got hammered by reviewers because it was his turn to get hammered. We made his best movie, don’t you think? Well, there are no great movies made anymore. [Lawrence of Arabia director] David Lean’s not with us.”

[From Details]

There’s a lot more in the interview, like how Ewan hates when films get too fancy and there are lots of tracking shots and cranes and all of that. He also confirms that he and Danny Boyle have buried the hatchet – back in the day, Boyle gave Ewan the lead in The Beach, only to recast him with Leo DiCaprio at the last minute. Boyle and McGregor held a grudge for YEARS, but they finally settled their tiff and Ewan even says he would be up for a Trainspotting sequel.

And who is yelling at poor Ewan about Star Wars? It’s not his fault those movies sucked. If anything, Ewan is one the better parts of those films.

Photos courtesy of WENN.