Ewan McGregor is preparing for another televised adventure: a 5,000-mile sailing trip from Oban, Scotland to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 55-year-old film star will set out at the end of August with a crew of four, including his childhood friend Eric Strickland, a producer and a cameraman.
The Voyage
In a recent Q&A at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, McGregor confirmed the journey. “I'm just about to do one, sort of in the process of getting ready to leave from Oban at the end of August and I'm going to go to, I'm going to sail from Oban to Rio de Janeiro with my oldest friend in the world, Eric Strickland, who I grew up with, went through school with,” he said. Adding: “Eric's a sailor, and I'm not a sailor.”
The original plan involved renovating Eric's father's boat, but mounting costs made that impossible. Instead, they bought a 1988 55-foot Oyster yacht for £1. “Well, we bought a boat for a pound, a 1988 55 foot oyster yacht, which is beautiful, and that’s just been having its some of its technology upgraded and whatever. And Eric just sailed it up from Southampton, so yeah, that's the next trip, Rio,” McGregor said.
True Wind Series
The two-month journey will be filmed for a new TV series called True Wind, with a book also planned. McGregor did not specify which channel or streaming platform will air the series. “It’s going to take two months or something because we have to go all the way down and anyway it's going to be an eye opener. I have dreamt of it and I've wondered what it'd be like to be on in the middle of an ocean on a small boat. I don't know why but I've read all of the famous yachting books,” he added.
McGregor previously undertook four series of the Long Way motorcycle expedition series with friend Charley Boorman.
Supernova Stage Adaptation
During the same event, McGregor and Pitlochry Festival Theatre artistic director Alan Cumming announced they will star together in a stage adaptation of Harry Macqueen’s 2020 film Supernova. The play, directed by John Tiffany, follows protagonists Sam and Tusker, a couple together for 20 years, as they face Tusker’s early-onset dementia and go on a road trip chasing memories.
Cumming said: “I am so excited to welcome Ewan, a fellow Perthshire home boy, to Pitlochry Festival Theatre for this extraordinary theatre event. Harry Macqueen has adapted his beautiful film, and John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett (fresh from their Pitlochry Festival Theatre triumph with Once) join forces with the theatrical wizard Jamie Harrison to create an evening of true magic. A love story, a treatise on life and death itself and a visual feast - with two Scottish laddies at its heart. What more could you want?!”
McGregor added: “I am so delighted to be working at Pitlochry Festival Theatre next summer on the beautiful Supernova with my old friend Alan. I have been very moved by the work so far on the text by Harry Macqueen, who is adapting his own screenplay. We are going to be discovering this story with the amazing team of John Tiffany, Jamie Harrison and Steven Hoggett and it's going to be quite something to throw myself into this role with such an extraordinary group of visionaries. I can't wait to get started and to bring this piece to the stage. I look forward to seeing you all there!”
The production opens at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 24 July until 21 August 2027.
