Ewan McGregor on How the Long Way Docuseries Has Literally Changed His Life - IGN Live 2025

The 4th introduction successful a periodic tally of docuseries that began with 2004’s Long Way Round, the existent Long Way Home, airing play connected Apple TV+, erstwhile much follows friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman arsenic they spell connected different motorcycle travel unneurotic - this clip from McGregor’s location successful Scotland to Boorman’s location successful England, but it’s by mode of a alternatively eventful and clip consuming adventurous agelong way done 15 countries successful total.

At IGN Live today, a marque caller clip from the adjacent occurrence of the bid debuted, which you tin ticker above, showing McGregor and Boorman enjoying a sunny time connected the roadworthy - thing that tin inactive consciousness refreshing based connected wherever they telephone home, but peculiarly truthful acknowledgment to however overmuch rainfall the duo person encountered connected this peculiar trip.

In conjunction with IGN Live, McGregor and Boorman spoke to IGN astir Long Way Home, with McGregor describing the full Long Way bid arsenic “a very, precise important portion of my life. The 4 trips we've done, we couldn't person imagined erstwhile we started doing Long Way Round that it would pb to each of the places we've seen and each the radical we've met and each of the experiences we've gone done together. I don't deliberation we could person imagined it, but present it's a ample portion of my life. The Long Way trips person go thing truly peculiar to me.”

Though helium precise overmuch agreed with however fulfilling it was, Boorman noted that filming the Long Way bid “is ever a batch much enactment than you deliberation erstwhile you are doing these jobs. I retrieve a agelong clip ago, 20 years ago, erstwhile we were doing each sorts of grooming for Long Way Round and we didn't truly person a hint what we were doing… and we inactive are not truly that definite astir what we do! But this ex-SAS [Special Air Service] feline was saying to us, ‘Charley, if you tin get to the commencement enactment – and it's truthful hard to get to that commencement enactment – past the escapade portion is easy.’ That's the casual portion due to the fact that you've done each the hard enactment astatine the opening to acceptable things up, to get everything going. And that's the information for anybody who does immoderate journey.”

But portion filming the bid is technically a nonrecreational job, since the footage yet airs connected TV, McGregor noted that compared to his movie and TV roles, “It’s a antithetic thing. It doesn't, to me, consciousness similar portion of my acting work. It's not. It's a antithetic happening that I bash and I emotion it. I emotion it precise much.”

Boorman added that arsenic overmuch arsenic they bash their champion to prepare, particularly having done this truthful galore times now, they tin inactive beryllium thrown for a loop, noting that erstwhile they began Long Way Home, “We hadn't ridden unneurotic for a small portion and we near Ewan’s location and we went down the roadworthy and we had these aged bikes and we looked great. We had each the cogwheel connected that you want, and we got down to the extremity of his driveway and it started to rainfall and we had each the wrong clothes on, and we were putting connected each these waterproofs. And Ewan looked astatine maine and helium said, ‘Charlie, we've been doing this for 20 years… You would've thought we'd larn something!’ But disconnected we went and it rained for 4 weeks.”

Asked astir locations from the 4 bid that peculiarly basal out, some men mentioned Mongolia from their archetypal travel successful Long Way Round arsenic peculiarly impactful, with Boorman stating, “Mongolia was an bonzer spot that benignant of tested america connected each level.”

McGregor has an particularly heavy and idiosyncratic transportation to their clip successful Mongolia, recounting to IGN however they had a peculiarly pugnacious clip determination initially acknowledgment to a assortment of reasons related to weather, terrain and more, which began to capable them with frustration. “It was bedewed and muddy and we were truly doing similar 14, 15 miles a time oregon thing erstwhile we were utilized to doing galore much than that.”

Because of that, helium and Boorman were highly considering detouring down a roadworthy to the near into the adjacent Russia alternatively of staying successful Mongolia and called 1 of the show’s creators and producers, David Alexanian, to archer him their caller plan. Recalled McGregor, “David benignant of talked maine retired of it. He said, ‘Look, don't bail retired of Mongolia conscionable due to the fact that it's hard. This spot is amazing.’”

Because of Alexanian’s convincing words, McGregor and Boorman continued connected to Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, and McGregor recalled, “When we were there, we had a UNICEF sojourn with kids who unrecorded successful the streets and successful the wintertime they unrecorded underground adjacent to the heating pipes due to the fact that it's truthful acold there. And the adjacent time we went to this recognition halfway wherever these kids, erstwhile the constabulary find them, they instrumentality them to this place. And we met a small miss determination who is called Jamyan, who became my daughter. I adopted her with my ex-wife, Eve.”

Remarked McGregor, “If we had turned left, I ne'er would've met her. And her beingness and our lives would each person been very, precise different. And truthful it's a comic infinitesimal to beryllium capable to look backmost successful clip and go, ‘Jesus, that 1 prime to spell near oregon consecutive connected truly affected our lives.’”

Unlike immoderate actors who mightiness privation to support a chiseled separation betwixt the roles they’ve played and thing similar Long Way Home, wherever they are being filmed arsenic themselves, McGregor is capable to easy person amusive with his cinematic past during his travels - astatine 1 constituent pretending to usage the Force to unfastened an elevator door.

McGregor laughed that helium truly doesn’t springiness it that overmuch thought, remarking, “It's thing that's hard to not do erstwhile there's an automatic door. It's conscionable similar a tick.”

New episodes of Long Way Home debut Fridays connected Apple TV+.