The Truth About Ewan McGregor's Relationship With Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Ewan McGregor married his first wife, Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer, in 1995. So when McGregor was spotted on an amorous evening out with his Fargo co-star, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, in 2017, people were pretty scandalized. The photos led to McGregor divorcing his wife of over 20 years and starting a relationship with Winstead (via The Sun). While some tabloids were quick to suggest that their relationship ended when Winstead was widely named a "homewrecker," the couple are still very much together as of 2020 (via the Daily Mail). The pair made headlines again when McGregor's oldest daughter, Clara McGregor, took to Instagram to voice her opinion about her dad's new girlfriend, calling her a "piece of trash" (via The Sun).
So, what's the real story about McGregor and his girlfriend? Is it really as scandalous as it seems? Here's the truth about how the two actors got together, and what they've overcome as a couple.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ewan McGregor fell in love on the set of Fargo in 2017
Ewan McGregor met Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2017 on the set of the television show Fargo. As CinemaBlend noted, McGregor played two "warring brothers" on the show, Emmit and Ray. Ray was a parole officer who struck up a relationship with a parolee, Nikki Swango — played by, you guessed it, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. In an interview for the FX Network, Winstead gushed about her co-star. "Ewan is incredible," she shared, while McGregor admitted, "I love working with Mary." In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, McGregor also said, "I knew we were going to get on."
According to The Sun, Winstead and McGregor may have actually been getting close before filming started — right under his wife's nose. Apparently, Winstead visited the McGregor household in December of 2016, shortly after getting cast in the show. As a friend said, "Mary went to the house once and met Eve and kids over dinner." And according to the Daily Mail (via the Daily Record), she spent the evening explaining how she'd had a crush on McGregor as a teenager — how awkward!
Ewan McGregor was spotted on what looked like a date with Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2017
Things got juicy in October of 2017 when The Sun, a British tabloid, posted photos of Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead on what could only be described as a date at The Good Life Eatery, a North London cafe. Apparently, witnesses saw the couple getting super close. "Ewan and Mary Eliazabeth were there together and seemed relaxed in each other's company," a source revealed. "They were deep in conversation and were there together for more than an hour. As they left she got onto the back Ewan's motorbike and they sped off together." At one point during the evening, the couple even shared an intimate kiss.
While The Sun pointed out that McGregor and his wife had been seen out and about without their wedding rings, the photos of McGregor and Winstead out together shocked fans, who, at the time, had no idea that the two on-screen lovers had connected off the screen, too.
Ewan McGregor split from his wife of 22 years after he was seen with Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Shortly after The Sun published its incriminating story about Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's date night, McGregor and his wife, Eve Mavrakis, announced they were officially separating. According to People, a friend of the couple confirmed that they'd actually decided to split earlier in the year, in May of 2017.
According to Page Six, McGregor had told Mavrakis about his feelings for Winstead — but she found it hard to believe him when he said he hadn't acted on them. "Eve is sure Ewan and Mary were together before he confessed his feelings for her," a source explained. "It is hard for her to believe him."
In January of 2018, McGregor officially filed for divorce from his wife, citing "irreconcilable differences." Mavrakis spoke to The Sun at the time about the couple's split. "It's disappointing and upsetting but my main concern is our four children are OK," she shared. According to the publication, Mavrakis was seeking sole care of the children with visiting rights for McGregor. Yikes, sounds like this divorce wasn't very amicable.
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead went public shortly after the split was announced
Once Ewan McGregor and Eve Mavrakis had officially announced their split in October of 2017, McGregor felt that he and Mary Elizabeth Winstead could make their relationship public. In November 2017, less than a month after the first photos of McGregor and Winstead on their date in London were published by The Sun, the couple was seen again, this time holding hands while strolling through Los Angeles. Apparently, the pair were already traveling around the world together — less than a month before, they'd both been in London!
According to People, McGregor and Winstead looked "casually cool" as they walked down the street together. In fact, they also looked pretty coordinated, both wearing jeans, black boots, and leather jackets. These two would totally be couple goals if it weren't for the awkward and very recent split between McGregor and Mavrakis.
Rumors spread that Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead broke up shortly after his divorce
Shortly after Ewan McGregor announced his split from his wife, and then made his relationship with Mary Elizabeth Winstead public, rumors started to spread that his new relationship had ended. As the US Star reported in February of 2018, Winstead had "dumped" her new boyfriend because she "hated the embarrassment of being called a "homewrecker." As a source told the publication, "Ewan decided to throw his marriage away for Mary and now it looks like he's lost both" (via The Scottish Sun).
The Sun spoke to McGregor's ex-wife about the rumors of his breakup. As she made clear, she couldn't care less! "I haven't spoken to Ewan at all, so I don't actually know whether they are together or not," she said bluntly. "I don't care what he is doing. I don't know anything about it." She went on to say that either way, their marriage was definitely over.
The rumors about a split were debunked -- Ewan McGreor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were still an item
Despite the source who claimed that Ewan McGregor had lost both his wife of 22 years and his new girlfriend, it quickly became clear that his relationship with Mary Elizabeth Winstead was still an item. In April of 2018, People published a report that McGregor and Winstead had been seen together on the film set for Gemini Man, Winstead's project at the time, deep in conversation. According to a reporter, the couple looked super cozy with one another. "The way that she had her arm wrapped around him as they walked out of her trailer and chatted with some of the crew was sweet," they recalled. "Then they began holding hands and did not let go for the 15 minutes they were outside before getting into a car to leave."
Another source revealed to Radar Online in 2018 that the couple were even thinking about marriage. Apparently, they planned to tie the knot as soon as McGregor's divorce was finalized. We have to admit, this relationship does seem pretty sweet — even if it comes on the heels of a nasty breakup!
Ewan McGregor became noticeably lighter after his divorce
While Ewan McGregor has yet to openly speak about either his divorce or his budding relationship with Mary Elizabeth Winstead at the time of this writing, he has hinted that he's feeling much better these days. In a 2019 interview with Men's Journal, the interviewer noted "a change" in McGregor since their last meeting five years ago when he'd "seemed anxious" and "unhappy." As the interviewer wrote, McGregor seemed "noticeably lighter" in 2019 after calling it quits with his wife and getting together with Winstead.
Even McGregor had to admit it was true. "Lighter?" he said, "Today? As opposed to then?" Apparently, he smiled and said, "I am better. I am happier. I think that's true." While that's all McGregor would say about his change, it's pretty clear that his relationship with Winstead has helped him to feel a little more comfortable in his own skin.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead had been through her own empowering divorce before getting together with Ewan McGregor
While the media has largely focused on Ewan McGregor's dramatic split from his wife of 22 years and the mother of his four children, his girlfriend Mary Eliazabeth Winstead also went through a divorce of her own. In fact, she divorced her long-time partner Riley Stearns in May of 2017, around the same time as McGregor's alleged split from Eve Mavrakis — who's to say if that's a coincidence (via People)!
In a 2020 interview with Glamour UK, Winstead opened up about her divorce. As she explained, the split was a "scary, crazy thing for me because I had been with the same person since I was 18 years old, and that was what I knew." She went on to say that she'd been holding herself back from growing as a person. Apparently, the divorce was a "big turning point," and she became open to changing as a person.
Ewan McGregor's daughters don't seem to be too happy about their father's girlfriend
Ewan McGregor's ex-wife, Eve Mavrakis, wasn't the only person impacted by his relationship with Mary Elizabeth Winstead. In fact, it seems that his four daughters also took the divorce pretty hard. In 2018, Ewan's eldest daughter, Clara McGregor, took to Instagram to throw some shade on her father's girlfriend. According to The Sun, she replied to an Instagram post on a Winstead fan account that called the actress the "most beautiful and talented woman on earth." Clara retorted, "Oh man, y'all are delusional. The girl is a piece of trash."
If Clara's comment wasn't enough, another of Ewan's daughters also took to the internet to voice her distaste of her father's actions. Esther McGregor wrote a song called "Made You A Man," which she sang on Instagram in 2018. The song featured lyrics like, "I don't know how to forgive you. I don't know if I can." She also mentioned how photos of her father with Winstead had been published on her 15th birthday. "Seeing those pictures, they're making me cry... Happy Birthday to me, am I right," she sang.
In this awkward acceptance speech, Ewan McGregor mentioned both his ex-wife and his girlfriend
One of the most awkward moments in the Ewan McGregor-Eve Mavrakis-Mary Elizabeth Winstead saga came at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards. When McGregor won, he headed to the stage to publicly thank both his ex-wife and his girlfriend for supporting him in his Fargo role — yikes! "I want to take a moment to just say thank you to Eve, who always stood by me for 22 years and our four children Clara, Esther, Jamyan, and Anouk," he said in his speech. He then gave a shout out to his girlfriend and character's love interest. "And there wouldn't have been any Ray without Mary Elizabeth Winstead," he added. As fans said on Twitter, his speech was definitely "gutsy" (via Cosmopolitan).
While it's clear that the speech was intended as an olive branch to his estranged family, by the sound of things, it didn't have the desired effect. Mavrakis spoke to the Daily Mail and said bluntly, "No, I didn't not like his speech." When asked why, she explained, "For the same reasons you are here asking me about it."
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead acted together again in Birds of Prey
After falling in love on the set of Fargo in 2017, Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead got a chance to work together again in the 2020 film Birds of Prey. The film featured Margot Robbie — who's undergone a stunning transformation — as DC Comic character Harley Quinn. McGregor played bad guy Roman Sionis and his girlfriend Winstead played Helena Bertinelli.
It's hard to know much about McGregor and Winstead's time on set together. Winstead spoke mainly about the "strong and interesting and unique" women involved in the film, telling Who What Wear that this was what "piqued [her] interest." In fact, the group of female co-stars apparently shared a lot of "bonding moments" on and off set.
However, Winstead did gush about her boyfriend in an interview with Warner Bros. for the film. "He's just such a great actor and I think he's one of the most versatile actors out there," she said with a smile. "So he's perfect for this because it's sort of shocking in a way to see him be nasty and vile." Um, cute!
Rumor has it, Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead bought a house together in Los Angeles
It seems that Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are actually going pretty strong. In fact, in 2019, reports emerged that the pair had taken a big step in their relationship and purchased a house together.
As Radar Online explained, McGregor and Winstead chose a property in Topanga Canyon, a popular Hollywood area for celebrities who enjoy a low-key lifestyle. "They didn't want to flaunt their romance so they decided to buy in a quiet area where celebrities often hide out," a source told the outlet. "They've been living together for a while now and have talked about the future." The source added that there have definitely been bumps in the road for McGregor and Winstead, but they're very much in love and were comfortable taking things to the next level. Wow, sounds like this couple really is in it for the long run!
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead sang together for the Go Campaign
In 2020, Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead publicly appeared together as a couple for one of the first times as part of the Go Campaign in support of children in need. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the fundraising gala was held online. McGregor was a host, along with Robert Pattinson and Lily Collins. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McGregor is a long time supporter of Go, having hosted the first event back in 2008.
Fans of McGregor and Winstead were treated to a seriously adorable moment during the virtual event: the couple performed a rendition of Blur's love song "Tender," with McGregor playing guitar and Winstead playing the ukulele. The song features lines like, "Love's the greatest thing we have," and the couple stole some loving glances at each other during their performance. Watching their performance, it's clear the pair share a really special relationship.
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead spend a lot of time together
One thing seems to be for certain: Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are serious about each other. In fact, the pair look like they've been spending more time together than ever. According to Just Jared, they were spotted in New York City while McGregor filmed his series Simply Halston.
In March of 2020, McGregor and Winstead were seen strolling through Manhattan with their dog, and sharing a kiss on the street (via Just Jared). On another occasion they were seen arm-in-arm, again with their tiny puppy, who is apparently called Ambrosius (via Daily Mail).
McGregor and Winstead were even seen getting cupcakes with McGregor's daughter, who was apparently visiting her father (via Metro). In April, McGregor was again seen with Winstead, this time in Santa Monica with his daughters. It's so nice to see that McGregor has apparently reconciled with his children, and they even spend time with Winstead, too (via Daily Mail)! In November of 2020, the pair were spotted again, this time enjoying an ice cream on the streets of New York (via Daily Mail).