“He was also very aware of how lucky he got [in his own career],” Clara said

NEED TO KNOW

• Ewan McGregor’s daughter Clara McGregor, 30, says her famous dad had some strongly worded advice after she told him she wanted to become an actress
• He told her, “OK, well, good luck. It’s f—ing tough out there”
• Ewan is also dad to son Laurie and daughters Esther, Jamyan and Anouk

Ewan McGregor’s daughter Clara McGregor says her famous dad had some strongly worded advice after she told him she wanted to become an actress.

During a conversation on the Camelot Films Podcast on Tuesday, Nov. 10, Clara, 30, shared that her dad and mom, Eve Mavrakis, wanted her to be aware of just how difficult it can be to break into the entertainment industry.

“When I first told him I wanted to be an actor, both my parents were like, ‘OK, well, good luck. It’s f—ing tough out there,’ ” Clara recalled with a laugh.

According to Clara, the Trainspotting star, 55, tried to be candid about the realities of working as an actor, despite his successes in Hollywood.

“He was also very aware of how lucky he got [in his own career],” Clara said. “He is very good, but he — right out of drama school — got very lucky with agents and people kind of finding him.”

“I think there’s an awareness that’s just not always how it is,” Clara continued. “My mom being a production designer in film has also seen so much of it. They were very realistic with me about it being very tough, potentially not working out, and that I really needed a backup. My mom was like, ‘You need to go to university and have something to fall back on.’ ”

Clara said her father hasn’t been involved in getting her work, but has made some major contributions to her film education.

“He’s never really been one to make calls for me or anything like that, but he’ll show me good movies,” the Noon actress explained. “He’ll talk to me about his process on set and, also, I think he taught me just how important it is to be humble and to be grateful to be working and that everyone around you on set is making you look better.”

Elsewhere in the podcast conversation, Clara opened up about working with her dad. The pair starred together in the 2024 drama film Bleeding Love, portraying an estranged father and daughter who find themselves navigating problems from their past.

“We were working together… and he never once gave me any notes or told me how to act at all,” she shared. “Because he’s a pro.”

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She explained, “He knows that you don’t do that to another actor or the best people don’t as well. If you’re great, you never need to get any notes… and also you just don’t give notes to a fellow actor.”

The Star Wars actor and Mavrakis, 60, welcomed Clara in 1995, and their daughter Esther was born in 2001. They later welcomed two more daughters, Jamyan and Anouk, through adoption. Ewan and Mavrakis separated in May 2017, and the actor welcomed son Laurie with wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2021.

Ewan has previously been candid about his relationship with Clara and balancing fatherhood with his work.

“I had Clara in my lap as a baby doing press at Cannes for Trainspotting,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in a 2021 profile. “Ultimately, through all of that craziness and that time, I had that sort of safety line through my life, which was my work and family, that I could latch onto.”

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