Ewan McGregor Recalls Pressure To Sing On 'Moulin Rouge At 10'

'I had never sung like I was expected to sing for 'Moulin Rouge,' he says during MTV News' 'Spectacular' live stream event.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Ewan McGregor via Skype
Photo: MTV News

On Monday (May 2), MTV News paid homage to the 10-year anniversary of Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" with help from the film's stars, including Ewan McGregor. The actor recalled how exciting it was to work with Luhrmann and leading lady Nicole Kidman. McGregor also remembered that there was lots of excitement for the project — even before he signed on.

"There was a real buzz about it. Everyone knew about 'Moulin Rouge' before I met with Baz," McGregor said during "Moulin Rouge at 10: A Spectacular Spectacular MTV News Event."

"He asked to meet me to do a kind of workshop and I had done the same thing with Baz before when he was casting for 'Romeo + Juliet.' He remembered my audition for that."

Hollywood insiders weren't the only ones excited for the project: pop-music fanatics and musical movie-lovers also caught the buzz. With Luhrmann planning spectacular numbers that used beloved pop songs, McGregor knew he had to step up his singing game for the part. McGregor plays Christian, a writer who falls (tragically) in love with a Moulin Rouge performer after moving to Paris during what's called the Bohemian Revolution in the film.

"I had never sung like I was expected to sing for 'Moulin Rouge,' where the singing was a part of the storytelling and not just part of the character. I've only ever sung as a character, if you like, before, where if my singing wasn't very good, it didn't matter," he explained. He added about the music, "It had to be on a certain level. ... We certainly did a lot of singing training.

"I think I like the tango," he said about his favorite number, which takes place as Christian and Satine (Kidman) are caught in a love triangle with the Duke, who helps fund the musical the Moulin Rouge cast is staging. The song uses the Police's 80s classic "Roxanne."

"There's something really desperate and fantastic about the tango. And I'll never forget walking down through the rows of dancers really upset and singing. That was fantastic."

So, would McGregor sign on to work with Kidman and Luhrmann again? "I'd love to," he said. "I'm really up for that."

What's your favorite musical number in "Moulin Rouge"? Share with us in the comments below!

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Beyonce Waves Her 'B' Flag In New Video Set Photos

Leaked pictures show diva in an elaborate headdress, surrounded by female 'soldiers.'
By James Montgomery

Beyoncé on the set of her "Girl" music video
Photo: Fame Pictures

On Tuesday, Beyoncé fans went batty when photos of the Queen B — reportedly taken on the set of her brand-new music video — began making the rounds. The blurry snaps show B rocking a fierce faux-hawk, white jumpsuit and sunglasses, reportedly Givenchy couture (like there was any doubt) and, according to fan sites like BeyonceDaily, are from the shoot for a song called "Girl."

Aside from that, details remained scarce ... until Wednesday (April 13) that is, when even more on-set pics hit the Net. In the new photos, Beyoncé stands in a smoky, post-apocalyptic war zone, wearing an elaborate headdress and holding a battle flag aloft (and it sure looks like said flag is emblazoned with a big "B"). She's surrounded by an army of dancers, each of whom is dressed in what could charitably be called "Les Misérables" chic, their fists thrust triumphantly in the air.

It's not exactly clear if the photos are taken from the set of "Girl" or, as some reports suggest, they're from another video shoot, supposedly for a song called "'Till the End of the World." Regardless, Beyoncé is clearly up to something, and her flurry of activity only lends credence to a report in Australia's The Daily Telegraph that she'll be releasing the follow-up to her massive I Am ... Sasha Fierce in late June.

When MTV News last spoke to Beyoncé, she told us she was aiming to bust barriers with the new album, proclaiming that she was drawing inspiration from "every type of genre."

"I'm not in a box," she said. "It's not R&B. It's not typically pop. It's not rock. It's just everything I love all mixed together in my own little gumbo of music."

What do you think of Beyoncé's video-set photos? Tell us in the comments!

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Coldplay, Led Zeppelin Album Covers Featured On New British Stamps

Album art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery

Coldplay's new British stamps
Photo: Royal Mail

On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.

The albums featured in the new series are the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's IV, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Blur's Parklife and — the most recent album on to make the cut — Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page — who helped design the cover for IV — was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.

"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."

Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their Rush of Blood stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."

"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."

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Paris Hilton Accepts Plea Deal

Paris Hilton does it again. E! News reports that the celebutante has accepted a plea deal that includes pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug possession and obstructing an officer.

In return, she avoids being charged with felony cocaine possession and gets two consecutive six-month jail sentences suspended. Translation: Paris won't have to spend a night in jail.

"We fashioned a resolution which would give us complete control over her future," Clark County District Attorney David Roger told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If she does not toe the line and stay out of trouble, she will do one year in the Clark County Detention Center."

Paris reportedly will enter her plea on Monday. She will be on probation for one year, have to complete a drug abuse program, pay a fine of $2000, and complete 200 hours of community service (brace yourself for those pictures- LOL).

Does this sound fair to you or do you want to see Paris serve some time? Honestly, I think you could stick Paris in jail for five years, and it wouldn't change a thing.

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'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' Trailer Premieres

Sneak peek hints at more 'mature' story line Michael Bay told MTV News about.
By Kara Warner

Shockwave in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

There is lots of excitement to be had this year's summer movies, what with MTV News' Summer Movie Preview Week and Wednesday's debut of the trailer for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." Now, Apple has unveiled the trailer for "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

Director Michael Bay has promised a "more mature" story line for this third "Transformers" film, and judging by this trailer, he delivers on that promise — along with the Bay brand of action, action and more action, of course.

Things get started in outer space, with a spaceship landing on the moon, discovering something much more interesting than dust and dirt. We're made to believe that the famous '69 landing was the first encounter between the alien robots and humans.

Cut to a stern-sounding Frances McDormand standing in some secret government enclave with franchise protagonist Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). She tells him that if he breathes a word about the robots-meeting-humans-in-the-'60s thing, he will face charges of treason.

Next up, the skyline of Chicago, as Optimus Prime and the Autobots drive into town to confront McDormand's character about an undisclosed agreement that is now null and void. "You lied to us," Optimus says. "That was a grave mistake." This is followed by another shot of the skyline, but this one is under attack. A beam of light shoots into space, which seems to "awaken" a new batch of Decepticons previously buried on the moon, ready to wage war on planet Earth.

From this point forward, the trailer is all action. Huge, villainous robots are shown destroying Chicago, with humans fleeing the scene any which way they can. "Where were you when they took over the planet?" John Turturro's Agent Simmons is heard saying over scenes of rubble. Next up is quick cuts of our protagonists running, new leading lady Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson. "From here, the fight will be your own," Optimus says, ominously, hinting at a war that the Autobots cannot help the humans fight.

The "money shots," as it were, include a brief glimpse of new chief villain Shockwave, a massive cement and building-destroying robot cutting a building in half, sending the lead characters sliding down the sides, plummeting to the ground; Bumblebee jumping from building-to-building in order to catch two humans before they hit the ground; and the "wingsuit guys" jumping off the Sears Tower and flying over the city, which Bay told us was the craziest action sequence he's filmed.

Bottom line: Michael Bay and company sure know how to cut a killer trailer.

What was your favorite moment in the "Dark of the Moon" trailer? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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