THE FORCE IS WITH HIM; SCOTTISH ACTOR WILL ASSUME ROLE OF OBI-WAN KENOBI IN `STAR WARS' PREQUELS.

Byline: Mal Vincent Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Ewan McGregor is a Scottish lad who has kept his burr and a pass-the-ale kind of don't-give-a-hoot air.

``Celebrity is the big big wind over here, I guess,'' he confided, with a suggestion that he's naively taking you into his confidence. ``In London, they don't care unless you're a rock star. But one thing is certain, I'll never live in Los Angeles, if I can get away with it, and I can.''

If you haven't heard of 26-year-old Ewan McGregor yet, stick around. You will.

The Force is with him. After five small-budget, critically acclaimed movies in the past year, he's now set to star as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (the Sir Alec Guinness role) in the three upcoming ``Star Wars'' prequels. In fact, he had just arrived in New York after finishing the first ``Star Wars'' movie the day before.

He's the biggest Scottish movie import since Sean Connery, even if he is a skinny little guy. His ``Star Wars'' movies will be released in 1999, 2001 and 2003 - making celebrity inevitable into the next century. Sworn to secrecy about the ``Star Wars'' stuff, he would rather talk about his latest film, prophetically called ``A Life Less Ordinary.'' It's a romantic comedy in which he plays a fired janitor who kidnaps the boss's daughter, Cameron Diaz.

It opened Friday and is the product of his friends - director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew MacDonald and writer John Hodge - the same team that created the controversial druggie movie ``Trainspotting.''

``These are me friends,'' he said. ``Danny is the best director I've ever worked with. I hope to be in every movie they make. I'd turn down any of these bloomin' multimillion-pound things if it meant conflicting with something they wanted me to do.''

That brings up a hint of possible discord in the ``Star Wars'' galaxy. ``Well, I wanted very much to do it, of course. I know it's a legend and all that. I was 6 years old when I saw the first one and my uncle, Uncle Dennis (actor Dennis Lawson) was in all three `Star Wars' movies. He was Wedge, the only X-wing pilot to survive, other than Luke Skywalker.''

On your mark ...

McGregor doesn't mention any names but he points out that ``there are directors who tell me where to stand, what to say and all that. I mean, they tell me to walk to this point, say the line, and look in that direction. I think `How do they know what I'm going to do?' That type of thing is not why I became an actor.'' He's obviously referring to the formulaic method necessary for filming a sci-fi epic as big as ``Star Wars.'' The special effects, which it will take another two years to complete, will be the real star.

``A Life Less Ordinary'' was another thing. The part of Robert, a down-on-his-luck janitor, was written specifically for him but, even though it is his first Hollywood venture, it is decidedly British in tone and decidedly low budget.

Boyle was offered the new ``Aliens'' film, starring Sigourney Weaver, but bowed out at the last minute because he didn't like the big special-effects nature of the project - and the offer didn't include his writer and producer pals. Originally written to take place in France, the plot of ``A Life Less Ordinary'' switched to America because (1) it was considered wacky and quirky in an American way and (2) 20th Century-Fox put up the money to produce it.

The crew planned to shoot in North Carolina, but director Boyle changed his mind. ``It was foggy there and rained a lot,'' Boyle said. ``They kept telling me this is where `Last of the Mohicans' was shot, but all I saw was fog.''

He settled, instead, on Utah - Mormon country.

McGregor bemoans the fact that there were no pubs there and that the moral status was such that he felt as if he were in another world. ``After all, this was a British crew,'' he said. ``We were used to going to a local pub for a pint of ale after work. But I've been quoted as saying a lot of bad things against Utah. I'd like to apologize. It was an all right place to work, if work is all you were to do.''

Gender bender?

In ``A Life Less Ordinary,'' he plays a different type of screen hero - the hapless, hopeless goof-up who is a particularly inept kidnapper. Boyle regards McGregor's part as ``quite a feminine, emotional part whereas Diaz, the female lead, has a rather tough, savvy and no-nonsense bearing. It's a different stance for the world's biggest evolving movie star. This is not a John Wayne role.''

``Most actors want to play macho roles,'' director Boyle said. ``Ewan loves showing a weakness. Our test audiences show that Americans love a guy who appears to be a loser, if he isn't really a loser. That's the persona Ewan conveys.''

The theory is that American women are going to want to mother him, take care of him, hug him.

He reasons that ``the strange thing is that the British resent it if you run off to Hollywood and become a big success. It's the only society, maybe, in which outside success is resented.''

Awaiting release is the thriller ``Nightwatch,'' which Miramax pictures has been holding for over a year. In it, McGregor plays an innocent accused of murder. ``I think they're waiting for one of my really good movies to come out, and they'll release that after it.''

He's finished ``Velvet Goldmine,'' in which he plays an Iggy Pop-style rock star, and begins work soon on ``The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' in which he plays the love interest of a misfit girl who becomes a big-voiced singing star.

He spent time looking at old Alec Guinness movies in order to get the British accent for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he's never actually met Sir Guinness.

In between nonstop outside projects, he'll be making a ``Star Wars'' film every two years.

You get the feeling Ewan McGregor isn't impressed. ``It's me job,'' he said. ``It's something to do.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Ewan McGregor, who plays a hapless janitor-turned-kidnapper in the romantic comedy ``A Life Less Ordinary,'' is the biggest Scottish actor since Sean Connery.