People
Ewen Bremner
Acting · follow into films and chains
Biography
Ewen Bremner (born January 23, 1972) is a Scottish character actor. His roles have included Julien in Julien Donkey-Boy and Daniel "Spud" Murphy in Trainspotting and its 2017 sequel T2 Trainspotting. 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). Bremner portrayed Spud in Danny Boyle's film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel Trainspotting, and later Mullet, a street thug in Guy Ritchie's Snatch. 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. He has played supporting roles in blockbusters such as Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. In 2017 he produced the short film No Song to Sing. He has one daughter, with actress Marcia Rose, whom he met during the filming of Skin.
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
The Dog Stars
As Crossbow Hunter
Snatch
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Snowpiercer
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Trainspotting
Appears in a KinoChain journey
T2 Trainspotting
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Naked
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Wonder Woman
As Charlie
Exodus: Gods and Kings
As Expert
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
The High Was Never the Point
When Trainspotting arrived in 1996, it was quickly labelled as the ultimate "drugs movie". Decades on, its true subject matter is far clearer. It is not fundame...
8 films
The Perfect Needledrop: Ten Moments That Own the Screen
From sudden silences to euphoric choruses, these are the film moments where a song doesn't just score the scene, it becomes the scene.
10 films
The Ghosts Our Machines Keep
A chain about virtual reality, digital afterlife and grief, beginning with Yeon Sang-ho's Paradise Lost and moving through Korean and international cinema's scr...
8 films
Rewinding the Reel: How VHS Championed British Independents
From Thatcher's Britain to the video shop era, discover how VHS gave gritty, daring British films a second life and a devoted audience.
9 films
Criminal Alliances
A chain tracing the anti-hero ensemble film from its war-movie origins through heist, western, and genre mutations to the modern comic-book iteration, examining...
8 films
Growing Pains: Sequels That Leap Through Time
From a Parisian afternoon to a boxing ring, these sequels skip years ahead and find their characters changed, challenged, and achingly familiar. A journey throu...
6 films
20 Home Video Releases Every Film Obsessive Should Own
There was a brief, glorious period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when buying a film on home video felt less like acquiring a product and more like being han...
20 films
Signals in the Ash
From a father's vigil to a robot's devotion, eight films trace the fragile threads that hold humanity together when the world falls quiet.
8 films
Topics
Explore by topic
Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Acted
The Dog Stars
2026 · Crossbow Hunter
First Cow
2020 · Lloyd
Renegades
2017 · Jim Rainey
Wonder Woman
2017 · Charlie
T2 Trainspotting
2017 · Spud
Exodus: Gods and Kings
2014 · Expert
Snowpiercer
2013 · Andrew
Jack the Giant Slayer
2013 · Wicke
Page Eight
2011 · Rollo Maverley
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
2010 · Henry Strangler
Fool's Gold
2008 · Alfonz
The Lost Room
2006 · Harold Stritzke
Match Point
2005 · Inspector Dowd
AVP: Alien vs. Predator
2004 · Graeme Miller
Around the World in 80 Days
2004 · Inspector Fix
Black Hawk Down
2001 · Nelson
Pearl Harbor
2001 · Red
Snatch
2000 · Mullet
Trainspotting
1996 · Spud
Naked
1993 · Archie
As Deep as the Grave
— · Sylvanus G. Morley