Ewen Bremner is a Scottish actor. His roles have included Shawn Nelson in Black Hawk Down, Julien in Julien Donkey-Boy and Daniel "Spud" Murphy in Trainspotting and its 2017 sequel T2 Trainspotting.
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Early life and education
Ewen Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of two art teachers. He attended Davidson's Mains Primary School and Portobello High School. He originally wanted to be a circus clown, but was offered a chance at screen acting by television director Richard D. Brooks. One of his first notable roles was as a Glasgow schoolboy in Charles Gormley's Heavenly Pursuits (1986). He also played the lead in the BBC Scotland feature-length adaptation of the William McIlvanney short story "Dreaming" (1990).
Career
Bremner portrayed Spud in Danny Boyle's film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel Trainspotting, In the 1994 stage version of Trainspotting, Bremner played the lead role of Mark Renton, the role played by Ewan McGregor in the 1996 film. In 2000 he would later play Mullet, a street thug in Guy Ritchie's Snatch. He has played supporting roles in blockbusters such as Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, Alien Vs Predator, Death at a Funeral, Great Expectations.
In 2017, he produced the short film No Song to Sing. Bremner reprised his role as Daniel “Spud” Murphy in the sequel T2 Trainspotting. He gained enthusiastic reviews for his performance from critics whilst receiving the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actor in 2017, nominated alongside his fellow co-stars Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle
Bremner played WW1 soldier Charlie, a PTSD stricken marksman in 2017’s Wonder Woman.
Bremner plays a lead role as Tommy in the 2025 ITV series Coldwater.
Personal life
He has one daughter, with actress Marcia Rose, whom he met during the filming of Skin.