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*Although Ewan McGregor is best known for swinging a lightsaber as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” films and edgy fare like “Trainspotting”, he found the lead in the boy-who-has-unfortunately-grown-up tale “Christopher Robin” too good to pass up.
One of the things McGregor found irresistible was the opportunity to be in a film with a Pooh voiced by Jim Cummings, who has voiced the big-hearted bear since the mid-‘80s.
“I knew Pook from the books and then the cartoons,” said McGregor in a roundtable with EURweb. “I didn’t know I would have an association with that Pooh, and then when they told me that Jim would be the voice of Pooh, I realized I would be dealing with a Pooh I knew very well.”
Of course, a tale about the world through the eyes of child-like characters wouldn’t be complete without new actors, as well.
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“Marc (Forster, the director of “Christopher Robin”) did a lovely thing where he cast a group of young actors, mostly kids out of drama school, to play most of the creatures,” said McGregor. “So you had Pooh, but you also had an Eeyore and all the rest and they were all brilliant, great actors. They were all enthusiastic and keen.”
McGregor said what also drew him to “Robin” instead of a rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi movie and all the other offers he gets for projects was the script and the ability to work with director Marc Forster again. The two had previously teamed up for the 2005 psychological thriller “Stay”.
“I liked working with Marc very much,” said McGregor. “We kept bumping into each other and staying in touch and then he approached me (with “Christopher Robin”)…and we talked about it.”
“I love the way he envisioned it and imagined it,” said McGregor. “It was sort of wonderful (and) as you see, it’s not quite what you imagine from a Disney recreation, you know what I mean? Thre’s something really beautiful and artful about it.”
“The script really moved me”, he concluded. “I found it really lovely and I believed in it. Even if there had never been a Winnie the Pooh before, I would still be interested in making this film, because it’s about something very nice and interesting and I love the characters.”
McGregor said that Pooh’s Zen-like philosophy of “doing nothing” reminded him of his own simple childhood.
“I came from a very small town in Scotland and it’s a town that’s built on a hillside and most of it is this place called The Knock and as children, we had the luxury of being independent at a really young age,” he said. “It wasn’t far away and it was safe. We’d go for walks I the woods and that’s what Pooh does. He wakes up and has some honey and goes for a walk in the woods..”
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McGregor said the scene where he reunites with Pooh perfectly illustrates what the character is all about.
“In that scene, when I played it, I thought it was beautiful,” he said. “(Pooh) is someone who loves you and loves you unconditionally and you can see that you’ve hurt them, but they still love you anyway.”
As for those who feel the tale of a grown-up Christopher Robin – with a wife Evelyn played by Hayley Atwell and a daughter Madeline, played by Bronte Carmichael – may not connect with kids, McGregor vehemently disagrees.
“I think they’ll really associate with the little girl (Madeline)”, said McGregor. “I think for very young kids, seeing creatures alive will be exciting! Of course, (some of adult Robin’s) struggles may be a bit above their heads, but the film starts with the creatures…and then we come back!”
“I look at films that I loved as a child and I see all this stuff that I had no idea what was going on..and now I’m like, ‘I see’”.
“But I associated with the movies the way a child does and it was all very satisfying.”
