People really did bring you pies to welcome you to the neighbourhood 
The Crieff-born star of Trainspotting, the Star Wars franchise, Moulin Rouge, and Young Adam is in a unique position with Big Fish: he's not the naked actor. McGregor discusses working with Danny DeVito and playing a young incarnation of Albert Finney.
What did you like most about the story?
I like that it's a very simple film about a father and a son. The father, as he gets older, looks through rosy spectacles at his past. He's always the hero of the day and everything is larger than life. I think there's something about fathers and sons. This is a film about the reparation of a father-son relationship, but at the same time it's got this wonderful fantastical quality.
How did you approach the role?
My job very much was just to play the fantastical life of Albert's character, someone who's just slightly larger than life. I mean, I got to play Albert Finney as a young man! It was an amazing honour to meet him, never mind play the man! Finney is a legend for me, and not only did I get to play him as a younger man in a movie, I also got to some spend some time with him. It blew me away.
How about the Alabama accent?
Well yes, it was rather bizarre. There's me from Scotland and Albert's English and we're both playing this guy from Alabama!
You spent quite a bit of time living in Alabama with your family during filming. How was that?
There's a great neighbourliness in that part of the world, and my backyard was always full of kids from the neighbourhood, which was just brilliant. People really did bring you pies to welcome you to the neighbourhood! It was exactly the thing you read about.
Finally, we have to ask you about being in Danny DeVito's first nude scene... he's quite proud of it!
Yeah, I got to act with Danny DeVito naked in a wood, and that's a moment I will never forget!
