Danny Boyle says ‘Trainspotting’ characters Sick Boy, Renton, Spud and Begbie have never been far from his mind since 1996.
The Oscar-winning director decided to make the sequel to the classic British title because fans have hounded him for updates on the Scottish friends and he felt the presence of the characters whenever he was around actors Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle.
He said: "Everybody needed updating … It’s weird. People come up to you in the street and talk to you about Sick Boy or Renton. And it’s like, when was the last film where you remembered the character names? You don’t, you might remember one name of someone from a film. But four or more of the character names?
"So a lot of the reason for doing ‘Trainspotting 2’ was that. People still feel the characters, in a way, and I did. I’d see the actors in other things and I’d get a feeling for this."
Boyle also teased that the characters won’t fall into the traps of middle age life in ‘Trainspotting 2’ but will retain the spark of their youth.
He explained: "The French don’t have an expression for middle age. For them, you go from the old age of youth into the youth of old age. And that’s sort of what this is like."
Meanwhile, Danny is adamant that the original movie wasn’t an addiction story but was in fact a tale of friendship.
He told Shortlist magazine: "I always though the first film was about friendship. Everyone said it was about drugs, but I didn’t. And this film is the same, in a way."
Danny Boyle plagued by Trainspotting’s Sick Boy and Renton
