Biography
Despite the fact that his excrement-flinging moment of glory in director
Danny Boyle's flamboyant adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel Trainspotting would forever leave an impression on adventurous filmgoers, and regardless of subsequent appearances alongside such Hollywood heavies as
Ben Affleck in high-profile Hollywood releases like
Pearl Harbor, actor Ewen Bremner has yet to achieve the level of success of
Trainspotting cohorts
Ewan McGregor and
Robert Carlyle. An Edinburgh native whose art teacher parents actively supported his creative pursuits, Bremner first received widespread exposure when, at age 17, the theater workshop play in which he appeared transferred from Scotland to London's Royal Court. Subsequently making his feature debut with the U.K. television drama Heavenly Pursuits (1985), Bremner would take on supporting roles in
Prince of Jutland (1994) and
Judge Dredd (1995) before being catapulted into the international limelight as the hapless "Spud" in
Trainspotting. Despite having essayed the lead as Renton in the popular stage adaptation of Trainspotting, Bremner no doubt made quite an impression with audiences in the key supporting role, his alternately pathetic and sympathetic put-upon character offering some of the film's finest comic moments. The following year, Bremner attempted to bypass the hype by taking some time off and pondering his future as an actor. Though such subsequent films as The Life of Stuff (1997) and
The Acid House (1998, again adapted from the works of Welsh) contained
Trainspotting's edgy humor, their attempts to be "hip" were notably strained, and neither film fared well at the box office. Bremner's role as the titular character in eccentric wonder-boy director
Harmony Korine's
Julien Donkey-Boy found him again overlooked when the film failed to click with critics and audiences, but the undaunted Bremner would soon crack up audiences with his supporting role as "Mullet" in
Guy Ritchie's stylized follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,
Snatch (2000). With his role in director
Michael Bay's high-profile 2001 war film
Pearl Harbor, the talented actor proved his versatility once and for all by essaying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. When Bremner stepped back into fatigues the very next year for a supporting role in
Ridley Scott's
Black Hawk Down, it appeared as if he might finally be achieving the success that had previously eluded him. The next year, he appeared as none other than legendary surrealist
Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and in the following few years, he would balance such high-profile Hollywood releases as
The Rundown (2003) and
Around the World in 80 Days (also 2003) with such foreign gems as the Swedish film
Sweet Dreams. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide