Ewan McGregor’s 2-Hour Prep For ‘Fargo’ Nude Scene, Says His Character Is Like Trump


Shooting scenes full of intense dialog on Fargo can be tough, but preparing for a nude scene is even tougher.

Ewan McGregor, who plays dual roles in the new season of Fargo, wowed FX viewers with a naked scene during Wednesday’s premiere of Season 3.

Although Ewan McGregor is no stranger to being naked on camera, his naked scene on Fargo made him feel uncomfortable because all that weight was his own, no matter how difficult it may be to believe given the perfect shape McGregor has been in lately.

Before meeting Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley, Ewan McGregor was lean, fit, and healthy. But it all came crashing down when Hawley insisted that McGregor needed to put on weight for that bath nude scene during April 19’s premiere.

Hawley wanted that bath nude scene in Season 3 premiere to be as natural as possible, which is why he made Ewan McGregor put on weight instead of using CG and padding.

In the naked scene in question, Ewan McGregor’s Ray emerges from the bath and grapples with Scoot McNairy’s Maurice LeFay. And while McGregor had to put on weight for this particular bath scene and has started getting back into his original lean shape after he had completed filming the scene, showcasing his naked body on camera is no extraordinary thing for the 46-year-old actor.

When asked by late-night talk show host Craig Ferguson back in 2009 to explain his apparent passion with naked scenes, Ewan McGregor jokingly said that he was trying to balance the objectification score, calling “a feminist thing that I do” to have the women not be naked. But Ewan McGregor’s nude scene on Fargo was a far cry from all those naked scenes showing McGregor’s lean body in the 90s. This time, McGregor had to get uncomfortable to get naked.

Speaking about his weight gain for his role on Fargo, Ewan McGregor told press during a conference call earlier this month that his rapid weight gain started with “a massive dessert,” according to Vanity Fair.

And while Ewan McGregor says it’s “quite nice” to be ordering whatever food you like, the actor calls himself “a small guy” and insists that carrying all that extra weight doesn’t make him feel “very great.”

“It doesn’t make you feel great. I like to feel fit and healthy. But it was effective. It worked.”

While Ewan McGregor is going to stay away from desserts to get back into shape after the rapid weight gain for his role on Fargo, the nude scene on the show’s Season 3 premiere was praised by fans. But making that naked scene on Fargo happen took quite some time and effort, as Ewan McGregor says the nude scene had to “justify” all that padding he wears to make Ray appear fatter when in clothing.

“It wouldn’t make sense for me to wear padding and not be fat when I got out of the bath. So when I got out of the bath, I was properly overweight for me.”

Ewan McGregor, who says his transformation into Ray takes two-and-a-half hours, also plays Ray’s brother Emmit, who the actor himself says is very similar to U.S. President Donald Trump.

In his lengthy interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of Wednesday’s Fargo Season 3 premiere, Ewan McGregor said it was “interesting” to play Emmit during the global hype about Trump.

Ewan McGregor revealed that there were moments when he felt playing Emmit was like playing Trump, as the character “epitomizes capitalism and the businessman,” while having “a very thin skin.” He also doesn’t shy away from blaming other people for his own mistakes.

Ewan McGregor is able to quickly transform from playing the overweight Ray in that naked scene to playing the Trump-like Emmit that bears McGregor’s sensible charisma. And all it takes to make Emmit appear more “successful” and handsome than his brother is to put on a pair of Spanx, as explained by McGregor during his recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.

[Featured Image by Debby Wong/Shutterstock]

Share this article: Ewan McGregor’s 2-Hour Prep For ‘Fargo’ Nude Scene, Says His Character Is Like Trump
More from Inquisitr