Trainspotting (film) discussing which chapters of the book would and would not translate into film. Hodge finished the first draft by December. Macdonald secured financing from Channel 4, a British television station known for funding independent films. Pre-production began in April 1995. Ewan McGregor was cast after impressing Boyle and Macdonald with his work on their previous film, "Shallow Grave". According to Boyle, for the role of Renton, they wanted the quality of Michael Caine's character in "Alfie" and Malcolm McDowell's character in "A Clockwork Orange", "repulsive ... with charm "that makes you feel deeply ambiguous about what he's doing." McGregor shaved
Ewan McGregor the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama and charity. In 2016, he received the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. McGregor was born in Perth and raised in Crieff. His mother, Carol Diane ("née" Lawson), is a retired teacher at Crieff High School and latterly deputy head teacher at Kingspark School in Dundee. His father, James Charles Stewart "Jim" McGregor, is a retired physical education teacher and careers master at Morrison's Academy in Crieff. He has an older brother, Colin (born 1969), a former Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson and his aunt