Ewan McGregor's Daughter Is All Grown Up
Ewan McGregor married his now ex-wife Eve Mavrakis in the summer of 1995, just six months after he fell for the French art director on the set of the British legal drama Kavanagh QC. Seven months later, Mavrakis gave birth to their first child, a baby girl they named Clara. She came into the world the same month that Danny Boyle's classic Trainspotting was released, the film that catapulted her dad (who starred as the heroin-addled, down-and-out Mark Renton) to stardom. Growing up with a Hollywood actor as your dad obviously has a lot of plus points, but having famous folks as parents can often be a roadblock when it comes to getting recognized for your own achievements.
By the time Trainspotting 2 came out a little over two decades later, Clara was a confident young woman out to make a name for herself. The year 2017 proved to be huge for the former photography student, who signed a contract with world renowned agency Wilhelmina Models and started appearing in front of cameras instead of staying hidden away behind them. Vogue named her one of their "must-follow 'It Girls' of 2017" and her social media presence has been growing since, but she has ambitions way beyond being Instagram famous. This is what Ewan McGregor's daughter is doing now that she's all grown up.
She's well-traveled
Her dad is proud of the fact that he's from Scotland and often heads home to tour the rugged Scottish countryside on his motorbike, but Clara actually spent her pre-teen years living in the English capital before the McGregors packed up and headed Stateside. "I grew up in London and lived there until I was around 12," she told W magazine. "Then I moved to L.A. where I did middle school and high school. I moved to New York for college at New York University." London, Los Angeles, and New York were used as consecutive bases by the family, but they would often leave them behind for months on end when duty called.
"We lived in Australia for a while, we lived in Alabama for a while," Clara recalled during her interview with The Telegraph, who wanted to know all about the years she spent following her famous dad around the world for film shoots. "I got really good at making new friends," she said. "It definitely built me into the person I am today." At the time of this writing, the up-and-coming model has remained in New York since graduating from NYU, but she intends to take trips to Tokyo and Cuba in the near future.
She's fluent in French
Despite the fact that she was married to a Hollywood A-lister for a total of 22 years, not a whole lot is known about Eve Mavrakis. She was reportedly born in Dordogne, France in 1966 and later moved across the English channel to pursue a career as an art and production designer in the United Kingdom. After meeting Ewan McGregor while working behind the scenes on Kavanagh QC, Mavrakis was able to land a job on Guy Ritchie's crime caper Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), but she has only worked sporadically in the years since. Her biggest credit is probably her very first one — she worked as an interpreter on Steven Spielberg's wartime drama Empire of the Sun (1988).
The French language was something that Clara (as well as her three siblings, who would come later) was expected to get to grips with from a young age. Mavrakis might have agreed to raise her children on foreign soil for the sake of her husband's career, but she was apparently adamant that French was at least spoken in the home. "I still speak only French to my mum," Clara explained to The Telegraph. "As do my sisters. And as I get older, I realize what an enormous advantage that is. I am starting to appreciate my European roots more and more."
How is she coping with her parents' divorce?
Clara and her sisters became fluent in French over time, but their dad continually struggled to master the language. "I understand a lot but after 17 years my French is still terrible," he told Graham Norton in 2012 (via Metro). "My kids speak French so whenever they want to talk about me or slag me off they do it in French ... It's not easy." In the end, it wasn't Ewan's lack of French skills that ruined his marriage, however. It was allegedly his relationship with Fargo co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
The actors were spotted kissing in a London cafe in 2017, which was reportedly the catalyst for Ewan's divorce from Mavrakis. There were rumors that Winstead was going to call off the budding relationship after she became worried about being labeled a homewrecker, but pictures obtained by the Daily Mail showed them packing on the PDA on the set of her movie Gemini Man, proving they were still going strong.
Not all of Ewan's daughters have taken the separation well (Esther wrote a song about her pain), but Clara has tried to remain positive. "I always remind myself how lucky I am, and how fortunate I am, and that there are so many people suffering in the world," she is quoted as saying by The Mirror. "I try to put my issues in perspective and look at the positive. I don't have a motto, it's more of a thought process."
She posed topless for Playboy
Clara McGregor isn't just Ewan's daughter — she's also your new crush. Those were the words of Playboy Senior Associate Executive Anna del Gaizo, whose April 2018 profile on Clara (complete with a topless photo shoot) thrust the young model into the spotlight. In her most in-depth interview yet, Clara discussed everything from her favorite films (Cinema Paradiso and Y Tu Mamá También) to her favorite foods (she never gets sick of eating sushi), though it was the accompanying pictures that piqued people's attention.
While she's had plenty of support from her social media followers, Clara has also had to deal with some haters since her Playboy images were released. After being told that she'd shown too much flesh for photographers, she took to Instagram (where she had already posted the image in question) to defend her decision to go topless for the mag. "To be clear I chose to pose for Playboy because it was with a talented photographer and team," she said in the post. "Life is about experiences. I am not a playmate, I found the concept for the shoot youthful, fun and creative and not particularly explicit, so I did the shoot. That is all. Carry on."
Her 'sexiest' outfit will surprise you
She may have slipped into a pretty saucy corset and some incredibly short shorts for her Playboy shoot, but these aren't the kind of outfits that Clara wears when she wants to feel sexy at home. She told the world-famous men's mag that she feels her sexiest when she's wearing her favorite pair of "mom" jeans. "They're old Levi's," she explained. "They're classic yet they get your booty just right in there. And I'm in my sneakers and a cute top. I don't tend to wear a lot of makeup or dress up a lot, so that's how I feel like myself."
Clara went through a stage of getting all dressed up in whatever happened to be fashionable in order to fit in with other girls her age, but she soon realized that she was a lot happier when she was in the clothes that made her most comfortable. "When I was younger, I would try to wear heels or tight dresses and then I was like, 'I'm over this!'" she said. "I can wear my baggy pants and I can still be pretty."
She was a tomboy growing up
Clara's effortless beauty hasn't gone unnoticed by the few journalists that have been given the opportunity to interview her since she came of age. After meeting her in 2016, The Telegraph's Jane Mulkerrins said that Clara was "infinitely more elegantly dressed than most students [and] also unfeasibly pretty, with enormous, wide-set green eyes, pillowy lips, and a set of very white, very straight, very un-British teeth." Emilia Petrarca from W was equally impressed when they met in 2017, writing that Clara was "stunning and unpretentious" during their interview.
The brunette beauty told Petrarca that her style icons are Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, and her mom (whose collection of vintage clothing Clara is fond of dipping into), but she also revealed that she wasn't very stylish herself growing up. "I was such a tomboy," she admitted. "I was very practical. I would always be running around and climbing trees." The older Clara got the more feminine her wardrobe became, but even now she's still trying to "figure out" her own style. "I really keep things simple," she said. "I tend to just wear all-black."
She wants to be an actress
Clared honed her skills behind the lens at New York University, but she has been a student of photography from a very young age. "Ever since I can remember I have found myself seeing the potential for an image all around me," her official website, Clara McGregor Photography, states. "With my photographs, I strive to explore the human body in different realms using lighting to create depth and texture and emotion to each image."
Modeling gave Clara a taste of life on the other side of the camera, however, and she now wants to take that to the next level by following in her father's footsteps. "What I really want to be is an actress," she told Playboy. "While I was in college I was doing modeling, but now I have the time to primarily focus on acting." The eldest McGregor daughter revealed that she had already hired an acting coach and was taking classes in order to improve, but she's also been relying on the "creative friends" she's made in NYC.
"What's awesome about being in New York is you're surrounded by so many creative people," she said. "I co-wrote and am directing and starring in a short film I'm kind of spearheading with some friends of mine. We're collecting people and making it happen." While she added that still had a love for photography, Clara admitted that her new goal was to get involved with "some cool movie projects."
But she wants to do it alone
Clara mentioned working with friends on several occasions while speaking to Playboy, but she didn't once bring up the idea of collaborating with her dad. With Ewan's connections, she could probably land a part in the kind of "cool movie project" she's looking for without having to do so much as lift a finger, but Clara has made it clear that she wants to recognized as an actress based on her personal achievements — not her name. "I'm sure people will have certain expectations and there will be comparisons," she told The Telegraph. "But I want to try and separate myself from that, to find my own voice and my own career."
She made a start to this new career in 2018 when she made her debut in the New York-set indie flick Groove, and Clara has already mapped out where she'd like to take her career in the years to come, including her dream roles. "Honestly, I would love to play someone like Patti Smith," she told Playboy. "Just Kids is one of my favorite books of all time. Reading it while living in New York was inspiring." She also expressed an interest in taking on the role of Lee Miller, one of the first-ever female war photographers. "There are so many badass women who would be so cool to play," she said.
She's currently single
Asked by Playboy what her favorite place in the world was, Ewan McGregor's daughter answered, "Bali," though she was quick to add that her memory of the place had been tainted. "I went with my a****** ex-boyfriend," she said. The model-turned-actress broke up with her long-term beau Gordon Goodman at the end of 2017, not long after the break-up of her parents. She fell for the Scottish DJ while both were studying at NYU, but they found themselves pulling in different directions after graduating.
"It just was no longer working and we weren't on the same page," Clara told the Daily Mail. "It was the right choice." Goodman is said to have formed a bond with the McGregor family during their time together, and he was also popular among Clara's friends. "It's so sad that they've broken up because they were really sweet together," a mate of Clara told the British tabloid. "And with everything that's going on with her parents, it's not exactly been the best year."
Her most recent date was her dad. In April 2018, Clara agreed to accompany Ewan to the premiere of his sci-fi romance Zoe, joining him on the red carpet in an elegant (if a little revealing) sheer Fendi dress. She received support from some fans for accepting McGregor's invitation, but others weren't quite as kind. The trolls came out in full force on social media, with one calling her a "Judas" for helping out her father.