Ewan McGregor pays tribute to ‘inspiring’ uncle after collecting Bafta award

Ewan McGregor said it was “amazing” to receive an outstanding contribution award from Bafta Scotland and paid tribute to his actor uncle for inspiring him as he collected the honour in Glasgow.

Others recognised at the event included James McArdle who received the Actor Film/Television award for his role in Four Mothers and Saoirse Ronan who received the Actress Film/Television honour for her part in The Outrun.

McGregor was presented with the award by his uncle, actor Denis Lawson, who described his nephew as an “extraordinarily versatile actor”.

McGregor made his breakthrough in the 1990s in films such as Brassed Off, Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, and has gone on to star in the likes of Star Wars and Moulin Rouge!

Receiving the award on Sunday, he described his uncle, who also appeared in Star Wars, as “my biggest inspiration” and credited him for teaching him what acting really was.

McGregor said: “I can’t imagine anybody I would rather get this amazing award from than my uncle Denis.”

He paid tribute to his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and said he would love to work with her more, jokingly calling for more films they could be in together.

McGregor said: “I love to work with you so much. I’ve been lucky enough to do it three times, and I want to do it more and more.

“Mary and I are now here in Scotland, so to save us the pain of having to be apart, maybe you could come up with lots of Scottish films that we can be in together.”

Saoirse Ronan was not present at the ceremony however the award was collected on her behalf by her friend and fellow nominee Izuka Hoyle who read out a message sent by Ronan.

In the message, Ronan described The Outrun as an “incredible team effort” and thanked all those involved in making it as well as Amy Liptrop, on whose book the film is based,

She also thanked the people of Orkney, where the film is set, saying: ”This would not have been possible without you, your willingness to let us into your lives, your homes, your story.”

In her speech she also praised Hoyle, describing her as a “beautiful, rare gem” and saying: “The work you’ve seen from her so far is only the beginning. Watch her soar.”

Earlier, Hoyle told the PA news agency: “It feels incredible to be nominated for Big Boys which is one of my favourite jobs I’ve ever worked on and it feels incredible to be in a category of such incredible women.”

McArdle thanked everyone involved in the film in his acceptance speech.

He praised the “incredible producers, and this phenomenal cast of those four women”, joking that “to be trapped in a bus with these four octogenarians was a real, real joy.”

The Outrun director Nora Fingscheidt won the Director Fiction award.

Others at the ceremony included David Tennant, who was nominated in the actor film/television category for his role in Rivals – based on the book by the late Dame Jilly Cooper.

He appeared on the red carpet with Gary Lamont, who was nominated in the audience award for favourite Scot on screen for his performance in Rivals.

Speaking about the series, Lamont said: “We knew there was magic in the air, we could feel it was special, but none of us dared say that it was going to be a hit.

“After that, all the actors watched eight episodes together and you could hear a pin drop.”

Tennant said his wife urged him to take on the role, telling him “it’s going to be a massive hit”.

Asked how it felt to be nominated, Tennant said “what a lark”, while Lamont described how they texted each other about it as he joked: “I’ve been coming to Bafta for a long, long time and I keep saying if you hang around long enough they will throw you a nomination.”

He added: “I’m delighted.”

Commenting on the Bafta Scotland awards, Tennant said: “Scotland punches above its weight culturally throughout Britain and throughout the world, and I think it’s good to boast about that now and again and go, you know what, this is an industry that we are doing well in, let’s be proud of it.”

Others nominated in the actor film/television category of the Bafta Scotland awards were Ncuti Gatwa for his role in Doctor Who, and James McAvoy for horror film Speak No Evil.

They were up against Peter Capaldi for the episode of Black Mirror named Plaything, and Ruaridh Mollica for Sebastian.

Mollica said he felt “elated” to be nominated and enjoyed attending the awards.

He said: “To be sat around people I’ve looked up to, it’s incredible. I presented once last year and this room is always just filled with the most wonderful talented, kind people.”

Others nominated in the actress category were Tilda Swinton for The End, Karen Gillan for Douglas Is Cancelled, and Anna Prochniak for The Tattooist Of Auschwitz.

Also nominated for the actress award were Catherine McCormack for Lockerbie: A Search For Truth and Izuka Hoyle for Big Boys.

McGregor starred as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, returning to the role for the Disney+ original series Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022.

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth received the award for Television Scripted while On Falling scooped two awards on the night.

It was recognised for Feature Film and debut feature filmmaker Laura Carreira was awarded Writer Film/Television.