TRAINSPOTTING fans have been given fresh hope that Scots heartthrob Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as Renton.
It had been widely reported that McGregor turned down the chance to star in a movie version of Irvine Welsh’s novel Porno – which is set nine years after Trainspotting.
But McGregor took to Twitter today to dispel rumours that he had rejected the role – denying he had even been approached.
After a fan quizzed him over why he had turned down the part, the 41-year-old said: “I’ve never been offered Porno. Never seen a script. Never had a call from anyone to make that film.”
His comments prompted fans to tweet novelist Irvine Welsh, urging him to get McGregor onboard for the film.
One follower, Shane Campbell wrote: “It would be a blockbuster! Make it happen!”
Danny Boyle, who has been lined up to direct Porno, famously fell out with McGregor after he cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2000 blockbuster The Beach.
Other actors from the original film, including Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller, have publicly stated they would like to take part in the project.
Carlyle, who played Begbie in the film, said he would “jump through hoops of fire backwards” for the filmmaker and would “do Porno tomorrow for nothing.”
Boyle and McGregor have not worked together since 1997’s a Life Less Ordinary.
Interview
In an interview in June this year, Danny Boyle said he had seen McGregor “a few times” since their famous fall-out, adding: “I hope we can keep that going and develop it. I’d love to do another movie with him.”
He confirmed plans for the sequel were underway, writing: “There’s a script, well, an early draft. I’m working with Jonny Lee Miller [who played Sick Boy], and when we get the script ready, I’ll approach the rest of the original cast and see how much it appeals. It’s not as reverential to the book as Trainspotting was — but that book was a masterpiece. I don’t think even Irvine Welsh would call Porno a masterpiece.”
But McGregor, who played anti-hero Renton in the cult film, has said in interviews that a sequel to Trainspotting would be a “terrible shame”.
