It's not uncommon for an actor's roles to blur together a little bit, especially for someone who is filming several big screen features every year. However, it's a little more uncommon to hear that Ewan McGregor might not remember chunks of the time he spent on the huge, bombastic production that was Moulin Rouge. He recently revealed that's exactly what happened, and that parties with the rest of the cast were to blame. Here's what he had to say in a conversation with fellow Moulin Rouge actress Nicole Kidman about his time on the set.
Kidman: We'd have great parties. Remember those Friday nights, those Saturday nights?McGregor: Not all of them. Don't remember all of them.
Well that's a comment that deserves a rousing laugh out loud. In a recent interview, Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman were reminiscing about their time on the set of the movie, which to their credit did come out way back in 2001, when Kidman brought up all the wild parties they had on the weekends while prepping for the movie. She also revealed that at one point, they were passing absinthe around and she had no idea whether or not it was safe to partake in (but presumably did anyway). It sounds like the correct setting for a movie set in the wild and debaucherous Paris at the turn of the century in 1900.
The movie set actually sounds pretty strenuous, as both Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor confirmed to Variety that they dedicated an entire year of their lives to working on Moulin Rouge, and spent weeks and weeks rehearsing dancing and all manner of things, many of which never even made it into the final product. They were also staying at a large house that director Baz Luhrmann had them all at while practicing these talents, providing the cast with plenty of opportunities to cut loose at the end of the night.
The rampant partying doesn't seem to have had a bad effect on the production, however. The film was nominated for a ton of awards after its release, and even racked up some Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Award wins. Thus, the partying didn't seem to cause any problems and maybe even helped the cast to loosen up and make a great movie about living and partying in Paris, and falling in love at the Moulin Rouge. Just don't ask Ewan McGregor about it. He probably won't remember.
You can next currently catch Ewan McGregor in Fargo Season 3 and he's also in Beauty and the Beast, which is out on Blu-ray today. Nicole Kidman was just in HBO's Little Big Lies and has The Beguiled and Aquaman coming up.
