Movie star Ewan McGregor has admitted to bingeing on alcohol in order to cope with the depression brought on by his role in the Star Wars prequels.

The Scottish actor saw his career skyrocket when he played the role of OBI-WAN KENOBI in the hit franchise, but soon felt the pressure of being an international movie star.

This fuelled the Moulin Rouge! actor's hatred of the GEORGE LUCAS-helmed movies - and he began drinking heavily to get through the intense publicity.

Ewan admits, "I used to get drunk before meeting journalists.

"I thought it would get me through. But then it just leads to you saying things that you wished you'd never said - stupid things."

But the father-of-two has now curbed his boozing ways, and is happy to be recognised as Obi-Wan by young fans.

He says, "After ATTACK OF THE CLONES, I stopped drinking for interviews. Now, I'm very happy to do them, I really am.

"And I like being Obi-Wan Kenobi. I like it when kids speak to me about it because I remember being that way about the first three Star Wars films myself."

21/08/2003 13:22