Some celebrity interviews linger longer with journalists than others.
Years ago, I participated in a movie junket for the film “Big Fish.” The movie wasn’t a hit, but the junket gave me the chance to interview co-star Ewan McGregor along with a gaggle of other journalists. “Junket” interviews are hardly intimate affairs.
One less than cerebral journalist asked McGregor a personal question, something that was innocuous yet none of our business.
McGregor firmly put the journalist in her place with his non-answer answer, and he did so with great tact.
That memory came back to me while reading McGregor’s reaction to last year’s London riots.
McGregor tells Live magazine, “It was like mob culture. People were doing despicable things. They were angry but about what? All they achieved was to make everybody get even more conservative and tighten up…
What happened in London made me feel embarrassed. It showed that there’s unrest and dissatisfaction and that should be addressed. But people breaking windows in (sportswear store) Foot Locker and trying on shoes before they steal them isn’t saying anything other than, ‘I’m a thief and I don’t want to pay for my stuff.'”
McGregor may not be conservative – his quote actually hints at the opposite. But it’s grand to hear some common sense coming from the Tinsel Town crowd.