Ewen Bremner bio, height, wife, age, daughter, net worth 2025

Ewen Bremner Biography

Ewen Bremner is a Scottish actor who shot to fame with Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" and "Acid House", before landing major roles in blockbusters "Pearl Harbor" and "Black Hawk Down". One of his most recent significant appearances was in the biographical film "Creation Stories".

Childhood

Ewen was born on January 23, 1972, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a family of art teachers. He attended Davidson's primary school, then Portobello high school.

From an early age, Ewen showed artistic flair, dreaming of becoming a circus clown.

While Bremner never became a clown, he got his break in the film industry at a young age. Still, he sees plenty of similarities between cinema and the circus: "You're constantly heading off to shoot for months in different corners of the world. Pretty circus-like."

Acting Career

Bremner made his debut in the 1986 film "Heavenly Pursuits" directed by Charles Gormley, playing a schoolboy from Glasgow. He also starred in the feature-length adaptation of William McIlvanney's story "Dreaming" (1990) produced by BBC Scotland.

Bremner's career slowly gained momentum. He appeared regularly in films but didn't land leading roles for years. In 1993, he appeared in Mike Leigh's film "Naked" as Archie.

Between 1994 and 1996, Ewen appeared in series like "Inspector Alleyn Mysteries" and "A Touch of Frost," plus the adventure drama "Prince of Jutland," superhero flick "Judge Dredd," the film "Skin," and the adaptation of Edith Nesbit's "The Phoenix and the Carpet."

In 1996, Bremner shot to worldwide fame playing dim-witted drug addict Spud in Danny Boyle's cult classic "Trainspotting," based on Irvine Welsh's novel. The film explores not just drug addiction but the emptiness of consumer culture. In 2009, the film was recognized as the best in British cinema over the past quarter century.

Interestingly, Danny Boyle discovered Bremner on the theater stage. Bremner had starred in the stage adaptation of "Trainspotting," actually playing the lead role of Mark Renton (which went to Ewan McGregor in the film). So Bremner seriously considered turning down Boyle's offer – he didn't want to take what felt like a "downgrade." But he ultimately agreed and never looked back.

The film's massive success prompted Ewen to step back from acting to figure out if he really wanted to continue his career. His life changed dramatically – and not all for the better:

This changed all my relationships to the outside world. I started to be recognized on the streets, which never happened before! I lost my anonymity. And I realized that I hadn't appreciated it before...

While Ewan McGregor and the other actors from their drug-addicted quartet – Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle – were conquering Hollywood, Bremner virtually vanished from screens.

Trainspotting - Spud's job interview

He made rare exceptions: Michael Haussman's "Rhino Season" in 1997, then reunited with Danny Boyle in 1998 for another Irvine Welsh adaptation – "The Acid House." Ewen starred in the film's third segment. His character is a football fan who – thanks to drugs and a lightning strike – swaps bodies with a baby.

1999 proved another breakthrough year for Bremner. He landed a role in American director Harmony Korine's "Julien Donkey-Boy." Bremner played a young man struggling with schizophrenia.

This film belongs to the "Dogme 95" movement. The movement's founder, Danish director Lars von Trier, outlined its core principles in 1995: films should be shot with handheld cameras, stripped of traditional editing, staging, and lighting, with no genre constraints or artificial acting.

After shooting with Harmony Korine, the actor named his newborn daughter after the director of the project.

In 2001, Ewen transformed into a small-time thug nicknamed Mullet in the film "Snatch" by British director Guy Ritchie.

He gained Hollywood recognition through blockbusters "Pearl Harbor" and "Black Hawk Down", despite only having small roles in both films. In an interview with the BBC after filming "Pearl Harbor", he admitted: "Working with American actors was quite difficult, but that's because this was my first large-scale project".

In 2002-2004, Ewen appeared in the series "Spooks", the films "16 Years of Alcohol", "The Rundown", "The Reckoning" and the screen adaptation of Jules Verne's adventure novel "Around the World in 80 Days".

Ewen Bremner at the premiere of 'Around the World in 80 Days'

In 2004, Bremner received one of the main roles in the horror movie "Alien vs. Predator", playing scientist Graeme Miller. The film flopped, and in 2015 it earned several notorious anti-awards. The Golden Raspberry Awards named it the worst remake of the year.

In 2009, Ewen starred in the mini-series "The Day of the Triffids" about a post-apocalyptic world in which people are blinded and carnivorous plants threaten all living things on Earth.

Woody Allen's film "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" brought Ewen the role of Henry Strangler. In 2011, Bremner starred alongside Ewan McGregor, Eva Green and Connie Nielsen in the science fiction drama "Perfect Sense". The director of the film is David Mackenzie. Bremner played James, the partner of the main character.

Ewen's next significant work was the role of Wemmick, Pip's friend, in the 2012 adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations". His co-stars on the set were Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.

A year later, Ewen starred in the post-apocalyptic thriller by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho "Snowpiercer", the fantasy film "Jack the Giant Slayer", as well as the lead role in the short film "Drone". The latter tells the story of a military drone operator. When he arrives at work early one day, he begins questioning what he's doing – how with one joystick movement, he's directing a lethal missile at a stranger on the other side of the world.

2014 was a banner year for the actor. He appeared in more than five films, among which were the political thriller "Turks & Caicos", the detective drama "Salting the Battlefield" and the adventure fairy tale "Get Santa".

In 2017, Bremner returned to the role of Spud in the sequel to "Trainspotting", for which he received the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor. Despite returning to heroin and divorcing his wife, Spud proves to be the most human of all the former friends, and in the end he discovers a writing talent and publishes his memoirs.

Fans initially greeted "T2" with hostility. But as Ewen Bremner later recalled, viewers' reactions pleased him. People didn't expect the sequel to be so deep and emotional. They were pleasantly surprised and grateful we didn't ruin anything. After all, the first "Trainspotting" is still deeply ingrained in many people's hearts.

How Ewen Bremner's character has changed

His role in the superhero film "Wonder Woman" was slightly less compelling directed by Patty Jenkins, where Bremner played Charlie, a once gifted sniper who lost his ability to shoot due to post-traumatic stress disorder. That same year, Ewen produced the short film No Song to Sing.

Personal Life of Ewen Bremner

Ewen's personal life hasn't been filled with dramatic romances. In the '90s, he dated actress Marcia Rose, whom he met on the set of the short film "Skin". In 1999, the couple had a daughter, Harmony, but the young people never married. Eventually, they went their separate ways.

Bremner's daughter also pursued an acting career. In 2016, she starred in the short film "Carousel", directed by her father in collaboration with Cal Weber.

Ewen Bremner Now

The actor continues to appear in films. Since 2020, Ewen has been involved in the comedy series "Our Flag Means Death". The show follows the real story of aristocrat Stede Bonnet, who abandoned his privileged life to fulfill his dream of becoming a pirate. The premiere took place in early 2022.

In 2021, the biographical film "Creation Stories" premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival. The creators of the "Trainspotting" franchise, Danny Boyle and Irvine Welsh, directed the film, telling the life story of Alan McGee, one of the most scandalous music producers in the world.

Ewen Bremner in the movie 'Creation Stories'

The script is based on McGee's autobiographical book "Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Record Label". The lead role went to Bremner, who stood out among other candidates for the role not only with his acting performance but also his physical resemblance to the prototype.