Esther McGregor has steadily moved from being known as the daughter of actor Ewan McGregor to establishing a creative identity of her own. Born in London in 2001, she has explored acting, modeling, music, and tattoo artistry before choosing the screen as her main professional focus. Her recent performances, particularly in We Were Liars, have placed her firmly on the radar of a wider audience.
Who Is Esther McGregor?
Esther McGregor is a British actress, model, and musician who has developed her career across film and television. She is the daughter of Ewan McGregor and production designer Eve Mavrakis, but her professional path reflects interests that extend well beyond her famous family. She studied at New York University and has gradually built experience through several creative fields before focusing more strongly on acting.
Born Esther Rose McGregor on October 22, 2001, in London, Esther grew up surrounded by film, art, and design. Her father became internationally recognised through projects such as Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge! and Star Wars, while her mother worked in production design. However, Esther did not rush into professional acting as a child. Instead, she explored different forms of creative expression and entered the industry on her own terms.
Esther McGregor and Her Family Background
Esther comes from a highly creative family, which naturally influenced her interests. Her parents’ careers exposed her to filmmaking and visual storytelling from an early age, while her sister Clara McGregor also pursued acting, modeling, and filmmaking. Esther’s wider family includes actor Denis Lawson, her father’s uncle, giving her an unusually strong connection to the entertainment industry.
Nevertheless, family connections do not fully explain Esther’s career development. She has spoken about exploring several creative pursuits rather than immediately committing to acting. That approach allowed her to discover what genuinely suited her. Over time, she worked in modeling, music, and tattoo artistry before deciding that acting offered the strongest long-term outlet for her imagination and ambitions.
Esther McGregor’s Acting Career
Esther began building her acting résumé with smaller roles before taking on increasingly visible projects. One of her early television appearances came in High School, the coming-of-age series inspired by the memoir of musicians Tegan and Sara Quin. She also appeared in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, where she played Tetha Grig in an episode alongside her father.
Her film career expanded with appearances in major productions. In Babygirl, she played Isabel and shared the project with established performers including Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas. She also appeared in Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, playing Young Martha. These roles gave her exposure to different directors, genres, and acting environments while helping her establish a reputation beyond her family name.
A Broader Creative Background
Before acting became her primary focus, Esther experimented with several artistic disciplines. She worked as a model and explored music, including work connected with the French Thyme project. She also developed an interest in tattoo artistry and helped establish Pink Ether, a tattoo studio described in profiles as welcoming to women and queer clients.
That variety matters when considering Esther’s development as an artist. Rather than following one predictable route into entertainment, she tested different creative forms and discovered where her strongest ambitions lay. Her background in visual art, music, and fashion can also inform the way she approaches characters, style, and storytelling on screen.
Her Breakthrough in We Were Liars
The biggest step in Esther’s career came with the 2025 Prime Video series We Were Liars. Based on E. Lockhart’s bestselling novel, the mystery drama follows Cadence Sinclair and her wealthy family as she tries to understand the events surrounding a traumatic accident. Esther plays Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, one of the central members of the group known as the Liars.
The role gave Esther considerably more screen time than several of her earlier appearances. She worked alongside Emily Alyn Lind, Joseph Zada, and Shubham Maheshwari, forming the young ensemble at the heart of the story. Because Mirren has an important relationship with the other characters, the part required Esther to balance friendship, family tension, mystery, and emotional conflict throughout the series.
Why We Were Liars Matters for Esther
We Were Liars represents an important career milestone because it gives Esther the opportunity to carry a substantial television role rather than simply appearing as part of a larger ensemble. Her performance also places her in a contemporary mystery drama with a young international cast, exposing her work to viewers who may not have encountered her earlier projects.
The series also helped separate Esther’s professional identity from the inevitable attention surrounding her father. While audiences may initially recognise her surname, her role as Mirren gives viewers a reason to evaluate her as a performer. That distinction can become increasingly important as she takes on more demanding characters and develops a filmography based on her own choices.
Esther McGregor and Ewan McGregor
Interest in Esther often centers on her relationship with Ewan McGregor, but their professional connection is only one part of her story. The two appeared together in Obi-Wan Kenobi, where Esther played Tetha Grig while her father returned to his iconic role as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Their shared project gave fans a memorable example of the McGregor family appearing together on screen.
At the same time, Esther has continued developing her own career rather than relying solely on that connection. Her appearances in Babygirl, The Room Next Door, and We Were Liars demonstrate a growing range of work. Her father may have opened a door to an extraordinary industry, but Esther’s subsequent choices have helped shape a separate professional identity.
What Comes Next for Esther McGregor?
Esther’s career appears to be entering a particularly interesting stage. Her credits include projects such as Clean Hands, while Becoming Capa and Alma have also been associated with her upcoming work. These projects could give her opportunities to move between different styles of filmmaking and continue developing beyond the young-adult mystery genre.
More importantly, Esther has made it clear through her career choices that acting has become her central ambition. Her earlier experiences in modeling, music, and tattoo artistry remain part of her creative background, yet the screen now appears to be her main professional direction. That focus could help her build a more distinctive body of work as she moves into more mature roles.
Final Thoughts on Esther McGregor
Esther McGregor’s story is more interesting than a simple Hollywood-family narrative. Although she grew up with access to an extraordinary creative environment, she explored several artistic paths before deciding that acting deserved her full attention. From Obi-Wan Kenobi and Babygirl to The Room Next Door and We Were Liars, each project has added another layer to her developing career.
Today, Esther stands as a promising young actress with experience across film, television, fashion, music, and visual art. Her family name will likely remain part of public interest, but her performances increasingly provide a stronger reason to follow her career. If she continues choosing varied and challenging projects, Esther McGregor could build a distinctive Hollywood identity that belongs entirely to her.
