Ewan McGregor: “I cried like a baby reading the script for The Impossible”

The Juan Antonio Bayona drama returns to W9.

Turn The Impossible was a challenge. The scale of the project – reconstructing a tsunami – and the responsibility in the face of the true story of this family caught in the 2004 disaster who tries the impossible to find themselves marked Ewan McGregorwho did not emerge from the experience unscathed. Reading it, we understand why the viewer of the film Juan Antonio Bayona won't come out unscathed either…

While this drama will return at 11:05 p.m. on W9 (after Pompeiiwith Kit Harington), we are republishing our “three questions for Ewan Mcgregor”interspersed with links to our very positive review of the film, as well as a long interview with its director.

The Impossible: the cinema shock of the end of the year (review)

What kind of movie is The Impossible ? Difficult to say… Already, the idea of ​​reconstructing a natural disaster made the project very special. I felt a great responsibility towards the survivors, those who lost loved ones in the 2004 tsunami. The pressure was enormous, I thought about it constantly. I also feared the “derealizing” effect of cinema. Many people have criticized Trainspotting (Danny Boyle1996) to “glamorize” drugs – it was wrong, but hey, what can I say? During the filming of The ImpossibleI was afraid that certain shots would be too cinematic. Fears that completely vanished when I saw the finished film.

How did you react to reading the script? I found it very brutal. And simple, but in the good sense of the word. OK, I cried like a baby while reading it. (Laugh.) It allowed me to measure the impact that the tsunami had through the experience of this family. I didn't know it was a true story until I learned that the real Maria, who inspired the character of the mother (Naomi Watts), had collaborated closely with the author of the book from which the film is adapted. She remembers perfectly certain words she said or heard. This is what makes the dialogues so strong, like when young Lucas (Tom Holland) discovers his mother's injuries and tells her: “Mom, I can't see you like this. » There is something very correct in this observation.

Juan Antonio Bayona, director of The Impossible: “I feel close to Spielberg”

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Still acting in movies. I also hope that I will have managed to make one by then. I'm really waiting for the right story to get started because it requires total commitment. I'm used to working in periods of three or four months, but undertaking something that will keep me busy for a year and a half is a different story. We'll see. I may never find the perfect opportunity…

The Impossible: “90% of what you see on screen is true”