The Artist's WAY

Multitalented ESTHER MCGREGOR finds her footing in front of the camera

- REBECCA FORD

I'VE BEEN ACTING since I came out of my mom’s stomach,” says Esther McGregor. But not many people got to see her performances, she adds, since most were limited to her family’s living room. “My parents never let me do anything onscreen until Iwas old enough to executive make the decision, and also old enough to be a human on set,” the actor says. “My dad grew up on that, so he understands the perils of the dark side of being a young actress.”

Her father is Ewan McGregor, who knows about the galactic dark side too—and her mother is Eve Mavrakis, an art director and production designer for films. Last year McGregor put her own spin on her famous last name in two high-profile movies, playing Nicole Kidman’s daughter in the erotic thriller Babygirl and Tilda Swinton’s younger self in Pedro Almodóvar’s meditative drama The Room Next Door.

In June she'll appear in the Prime Video series We Were Liars, based on the gripping YA novel of the same name about a group of friends sifting through secrets on a private island off Massachusetts. McGregor plays Mirren, a character she found eerily similar to herself: “She’s this cheery sunshine girl who has this allure and charm because she’s a bit of a weirdo.”