Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle talk “break-up” over The Beach

After twenty years wait, the Trainspotting gang are back with T2: Trainspotting, which opened in UK cinemas over the weekend. And while audiences were enjoying the return of some of their favourite characters, some attention turned to the long-awaited reunion of star Ewan McGregor and director Danny Boyle, who are reunited for the first time since 1997’s A Life Less Ordinary.

The duo’s fallout came over 2000’s The Beach – originally, McGregor was tapped by Boyle to star in the film but eventually cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role as he was very “hot” after the mammoth success of Titanic, and would allow Boyle to make the film easier and with a bigger budget. McGregor wasn’t happy and the two didn’t work together again until now.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, the duo spoke about the feud and just why it kept them apart for so long with McGregor at the time not happy about the situation rather than the film itself, saying:

“It’s a big regret of mine that it went on for so very long… and it was never about The Beach, it was about our friendship. I was in the first three movies (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary) and I wasn’t in the fourth and it made be a bit rudderless.”

Boyle had to tell McGregor about the casting of DiCaprio over a lunch that the director admits he handled badly, saying:

“I handled it very very badly and I’ve apologised to Ewan for it… I felt a great shame about it and was not proud of the way I handled it. He handled it with enormous grace.”

Years later, the two were alone together (along with McGregor’s wife) on the same flight to Shanghai in the first-class cabin but even though both felt this was their opportunity to air out their problems, both sat quietly and said nothing.

Robert Carlyle, who co-stars in both Trainspotting films, joked: “I was so upset about it that I actually did “The Beach” with Danny!”

You can see the full video below.

T2: Trainspotting is out now in UK cinemas.