Ewen Bremner

Few film actors have built an entire career off a single performance. Yet Ewen Bremner, who is best known for his lively portrayal of a strung out junkie named "Spud" in Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" (1996), is one such performer. "Trainspotting" received unanimous praise when it released in the winter of 1996, with Bremner receiving some of the best reviews of his career. The film, which was largely shot in Scotland and initially released in Britain, also opened numerous opportunities for the young actor in Hollywood. In the years that followed, he appeared in military blockbusters like "Black Hawk Down" (2001) and "Pearl Harbor" (2001), while maintaining his indie roots with acclaimed performances in "Snatch" (2000) and "Match Point" (2005), the latter of which was directed by Woody Allen.

The son of two art teachers, Ewen Bremner was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He took an immediate interest in performing as a child and dreamt of becoming a circus clown. Yet while still in his early teens, Bremner was offered the chance to appear as a schoolboy in the Scottish comedy, "Gospel According to Vic" (1986), which also starred Helen Mirren. The role, albeit small, was Bremner's first, and from there he set his sights on a career as an actor. Throughout the early '90s, Bremner appeared in numerous guest starring roles on various British television shows, including "Screen Two" (BBC, 1985-1994) and "A Touch of Frost" (ITV, 1992-2010). In 1995 he was offered the lead part in a new stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh's stark drug novel, "Trainspotting." When the acclaimed British director Danny Boyle was signed on to direct the film adaptation of the novel, he asked Bremner to play the part of Spud, which was a supporting role, yet one of the novel's standout characters. Initially disappointed over the fact that he was passed over for the lead, Bremner agreed to play the downgraded role of Spud onscreen, which went on to become the most lasting film performance of his career. After the international success of Trainspotting," the movie offers began pouring in for Bremner. He worked steadily throughout the late '90s, earning mixed reviews for his exhaustive performance as a young man suffering from schizophrenia in director Harmony Korine's experimental drama, "Julien Donkey-Boy" (1999), before returning to familiar territory as a street tough named Mullet in the 2000 crime drama, "Snatch." In 2001, Bremner appeared in two of the year's biggest blockbusters, "Black Hawk Down" and "Pearl Harbor." Both films were military-themed, and allowed Bremner to widen his exposure beyond the independent film community. He continued appearing in Hollywood blockbusters over the next several years, including the action movies, "The Rundown" (2003) and "Around the World in 80 Days" (2004), as well as the horror film, "AVP: Alien vs. Predator" (2004). In 2013, Bremner appeared alongside his "Trainspotting" co-star Ewan McGregor for the fourth time on screen in the fantasy adventure movie, "Jack the Giant Slayer." The film cost around $200 million to produce, but was a critical and financial failure, barely recouping its cost at the box office.