Ewan McGregor on T2: Trainspotting: 'It's a new animal - but it will be quite special'

Ewan McGregor has revealed that T2: Trainspotting isn't an attempt at a remake but will be a "new animal" that will stand alone from the 1996 original.

The actor was appearing on This Morning to promote Danny Boyle's long-awaited follow-up, as well as his directorial debut American Pastoral, and he admitted that he was worried about reprising his role as Renton in case he couldn't get into character 20 years on.

"Everybody is back, and there are some new people," he said. "Danny Boyle [the director] gave me my identity as an actor, with Shallow Grave too.

"There were 20 years ago moments every day on set. It was wonderful to go back. I was nervous about it. What if I couldn't find him again?"

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He continued: "My 20 years have been very different. But as soon as I got back on set, he was there."

Ewan couldn't tell hosts Eamonn Holmes or Ruth Langsford where we find heroin addict Renton in the new film, and insisted that while it would be "really different", it would still be very "special" for fans.

Related: Trainspotting TV? Author Irvine Welsh hints at plans for a small-screen spinoff

"Sequels don't often work if they're brought out straight away, [but] we've smartened up and we won't accept it," the star added. "This is different because it's 20 years on - it's really different because we didn't try to remake the film, that would be a bit sad.

"It's a new animal but it will be quite special."

Ewan also directs and stars in his adaptation of Philip Roth's American Pastoral, which follows a family torn apart by their daughter's new radical political affiliation in 1968.

The crime drama co-stars Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Connelly.

This Morning airs on weekdays on ITV.

Naomi Gordon

Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.