Ewan McGregor is reluctant to appear in a sequel to TRAINSPOTTING - because he was less-than impressed with the follow-up novel.

The Scottish actor shot onto the Hollywood A-list after starring in the groundbreaking 1996 black comedy - before going on to achieve huge superstardom.

Since the release, there have been talks of a comeback for McGregor and co-stars Jonny Lee Miller, ROBERT CARYLE and EWAN BREMNER - based on author IRVING WELSH's sequel novel PORNO.

Director Danny Boyle and scriptwriter JOHN HEDGES are busily writing a script.

But McGregor has reservations about a sequel - because he doesn't want to tarnish the memory of the first flick.

The MOULIN ROUGE star says, "I've read the book, and I really enjoyed finding out what happened to our characters.

"However, I wasn't sure. It didn't move me as much and I felt, ultimately, that it was a very similar story."

But he refuses to rule out a reunion with Boyle - with whom he fell out after being dropped from the cast of The Beach in favour of LEONARDO DiCAPRIO.

The actor adds, "To go back to the character, I'd have to read the script. I would hate to leave people remembering a poor sequel as opposed to remembering a f***ing cracking movie that we made.

"So, it would be a very important decision for me to make."

08/05/2003 13:34