When first approached with A Gentleman In Moscow’s title character of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, Emmy winner Ewan McGregor (Halston) immediately fell in love with the character. Reading Amor Towles’s source novel emerged as an added benefit as it gave McGregor additional colors to shade his remarkable performance. Given the novel’s setting during Russia’s October Rebellion, there was a great deal of emotional trauma and survivor’s guilt wrestling with Rostov’s undying love of country.
In effect, the role feels like the role of a lifetime for an actor who has been blessed with several already.
“He’s dealing with a lot. He’s carrying the weight of what happened to, not only his sister which was a traumatic moment in his past, but also through the revolution, losing everything about his life — all his relatives and friends would either have been murdered or sent into exile. He’s also dealing with a new country, a new policy in the country,” McGregor explained over Zoom. “There’s so much to play in him. How he learns to live with it all. How — through his relationships, his friendship with Nina and then his love for his daughter Sofia, falling in love with Anna [real-life wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead], becoming part of the hotel, and having the staff of the hotel become his family — he learns to drop the weight of being a count and just becomes a man. It’s a long, intricate arc for the character and for an actor. That was really exciting.”
In the limited series A Gentleman in Moscow, McGregor’s Count Rostov is sentenced to permanent house arrest in an exquisite hotel. Through the decades of the story, Rostov interacts with dozens of guests, hotel staff, and government officials and has significant impact on all of their lives. Throughout the series, Rostov retains his dignity, composure, and as much of the trappings of his former life as he can.
That required extensive consideration of Rostov’s costuming, particularly for the first few episodes of the series as Rostov attends nightly dinners in his full finery. Rostov’s looks change as the series progresses and his circumstances change. That required close collaborations between McGregor and series costume designer Sam Perry.
“It was really particular and so well done. He’s a bit of a ‘fuddy-duddy,’ so he’s dressing like an aristocrat. His clothes come from formal moments in his past, and we sort of modernize them as we go along with a toe in the ‘fuddy-duddy’ realm,” McGregor shared. “Initially, he’s always suited — waist coats and bowties — but later on when he’s been there for such a long time and becomes a dad, we see him in cardigans. [Costuming] was very, very important for the storytelling and to relay the passing of time.”
By the end of the series, Rostov finds himself caring for his “adopted” daughter Sofia (Beau Gadsdon), a piano prodigy. Sofia is asked to represent Russia in a Parisian concert, opening the perfect opportunity for her to defect to the United States. It also helps her escape the increasingly unstable Russian climate and opens a potential door through which Rostov and Anna can escape themselves.
While McGregor counts many scenes among his favorites, saying goodbye to Sofia was a particularly challenging and emotional moment for McGregor, a father of five, to film.
“Saying goodbye to Sofia, where she’s potentially being taken away from the hotel, was devastating to play. When it came time to rehearse that scene, I could barely get through it. Just the just the idea of having to potentially send one of your kids off was just too much,” McGregor admits. “That was something we struggled with because it was so emotional. I also loved my scenes at the beginning with Nina (Alexa Goodall). She was just so much fun to play with. She was so cheeky and funny. The count’s relationship with Nina is very much what my relationship was like with Alexa, so those scenes were fun to play, knocking about the hotel with her.”
Looking back on the limited series, McGregor finds that it’s sadly becoming an increasingly rare experience. The brilliant script, overseen by head writer and showrunner Ben Vanstone, and celebrated source material offered McGregor the unique opportunity to truly dive into and develop a fully-fleshed out character.
A character that lives and evolves across the depth of the series.
“That’s what [A Gentleman In Moscow] with me, and it’s why I’m an actor to play roles like this. To have real exploration of character is what acting is all about for me. So, it was such a relief to have such an amazing experience because it gets harder and harder to find that somehow.”
A Gentleman In Moscow streams exclusively on Paramount+.
