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Ewan McGregor has told how starring opposite his eldest daughter helped to heal their relationship following his divorce from her mother.

McGregor, 55, fought back tears as he recalled working with Clara, 30, on the 2024 father-daughter road trip movie Bleeding Love.

He was forced to pause during an interview at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, as he described 'a painful time' for his family following his divorce from first wife, production designer Eve Mavrakis, in 2020.

The Trainspotting actor was married to Ms Mavrakis from 1995 until 2017, and they share daughters Clara and Esther and adopted daughters Jamyan and Anouk.

They separated in 2017 with McGregor going on to marry his second wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2022. Their son Laurie was born in 2021.

McGregor said film Bleeding Love, which his daughter Clara also produced and co-wrote, brought the pair together in a story about reconciling during a road trip across America.

His part in it came after Clara asked him to play her father in the film.

He added: 'It was a very difficult time because I had separated from Clara's mum, and divorced from Clara's mum, and it was a very painful time.

Clara and Ewan McGregor pictured in at a film festival in New York in 2018

Clara, 30, in a scene from her 2024 father-daughter road trip movie Bleeding Love, which starred her father Ewan

'My children were very hurt, and Clara was very hurt.

'And Clara was – I'm grateful for it now – she was very open with me and very vocal with me.'

McGregor was then forced to pause as he became emotional, telling the audience: 'I'm sorry that took me by surprise.'

He then finished his thought, saying that Clara had 'expressed her anger very well'.

Having composed himself, he went on: 'And so when she told me sometime later, after a year or two, that she was writing a story about us, I was scared that it was gonna be something like that.

'And when I read it, it was so beautiful and moving, and about reparation of a relationship between a father and a daughter that hadn't fully happened yet between us.

'And so it was a very important part of that, for me and her, by being set together, and by telling the story about an estranged daughter.

'It's not autobiographical in any way but there are masses of elements in it that are.'

He added: 'There was a brilliant moment where she had to fully let her dad have it – and really tells him what she thinks of him in a way, things that she had said to me that she was able to do so in reality.

'When we did these takes I could just see that she was slightly reluctant to go there and the director – the lovely Emma Westenberg – said 'do you think we've got that?' I just went 'Clara, just let me have it. Do it'.'

McGregor's candid discussion came following speculation in 2019 that Clara had aimed a vitriolic outburst at him in the wake of his split from her mother.

In January of that year, Clara posted a picture of her mother Ms Mavrakis relaxing on a sun lounger in a bikini.

McGregor was married to Ms Mavrakis, above, from 1995 until 2017

McGregor went on to marry his second wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2022. They share a son Laurie, who was born in 2021

The caption read: 'My mother, ladies and gentlemen. 50 is the new 30 apparently.' Underneath, one fan had made a joking comment about keeping her away from her boyfriends. Clara retorted: 'Nah I keep her away from ah men who leave my goddess of a mother.'

Clara later denied that the 'ah' comment was aimed at her father, saying she was merely stating her mother 'deserves someone who isn't one'.

It wasn't the first time the couple's eldest daughter had seemingly taken a pop at her father, who split with Mavrakis in 2017 before taking up with his Fargo co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

In July 2018 Clara left a rather pointed comment under a picture of Ms Winstead at the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscars after-party that had been shared by a fan account.

She wrote: 'Most beautiful and talented woman on earth? Oh man y'all are delusional. The girl is a piece of trash.'

She later apologised for her remarks, saying it wasn't her 'finest hour'.

McGregor has also worked with younger daughter Esther in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, while he has starred alongside second wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead in several productions.

Speaking at the event 'In Conversation with Ewan McGregor' at Edinburgh's Central Hall, he said he never 'stopped being a dad or a husband' while filming with his loved ones.