Ewan McGregor Should’ve Won an Oscar for This Scene Alone

The Big Picture

• Ewan McGregor’s role as a desperate father in The Impossible is often overlooked but stands as one of his most powerful performances.
• The phone call scene in The Impossible where McGregor’s character Henry calls his father-in-law is one of the most intense moments of the movie.
• McGregor’s portrayal of Henry in The Impossible is both raw and nuanced, deserving of recognition alongside his co-star Naomi Watts.

Scottish scene stealer Ewan McGregor is no stranger to iconic performances, having starring roles in hit movies like Moulin Rouge!, Trainspotting, and even the Star Wars franchise. While he’s been quietly taking Hollywood by storm for the better part of 30 years, one of McGregor’s most impactful performances often gets forgotten in his impressive filmography. That is, his role as a desperate father in the drama The Impossible. In a movie filled with heart-pounding action scenes and tear-jerking reunions, there is no shortage of great acting to be found in this harrowing disaster biopic. However, one moment in particular, when McGregor’s character Henry calls his father-in-law and vows to reunite his fractured family, stands as possibly the most powerful scene in The Impossible, and remains an Academy Award-worthy performance.

Ewan McGregor Struggles To Reunite His Family After a Tsunami in ‘The Impossible’

The Impossible tells the story of the semi-fictionalized Bennett family (based on the real Belón-Álvarez family) as they fight to survive and find their way back to each other during the horrifying natural disaster of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. McGregor plays patriarch Henry Bennett, while Naomi Watts plays his heroic wife Maria, and Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, and Oaklee Pendergast play their sons Lucas, Thomas, and Simon. When the family is separated by a massive tsunami while on Christmas vacation in Thailand, Lucas and a gravely injured Maria find one another and are rescued by locals, while Henry sends his youngest boys to the mountains with a local relief crew so that he can continue to search for his wife and eldest son. While the audience knows early on that every member of the Bennett family has miraculously survived, Henry has no reason to believe that Maria and Lucas are still alive other than pure blind faith and a refusal to entertain any other possibility.

By the time the tsunami thunders around in The Impossible, Ewan McGregor has already proven himself as a devoted dad as he enjoys a vacation with his family, relishing tender moments with his wife and never letting his stresses about job insecurity leech into quality time with his boys. Henry is playing with his children in the pool when the earth begins to shake, and the idyllic landscape is quickly shattered — or rather swept away — when a massive wave approaches the resort. Henry only has time to gather his youngest sons in his arms and watch helplessly as Tom Holland’s Lucas screams for help while an unrelenting cascade of water and debris crashes over everyone and destroys the entire resort in a matter of seconds. We don’t see Henry again until some time later, when it’s revealed that he soon found Thomas and Simon, and is now combing the wreckage for traces of Lucas and Maria while trying in vain to borrow somebody’s cell phone to call home.

Ewan McGregor’s Phone Call in ‘The Impossible’ Is Some of His Best Work

After sending Thomas and Simon away, Henry continues his valiant search but is soon picked up by a passing vehicle and brought to safety in a bus terminal-turned-shelter. Here, Henry is introduced to other survivors, all sharing his intense grief and fear but offering listening ears as they attempt to make sense of the tragedy that’s befallen them. One man, a German tourist named Karl (Sönke Möhring), tells the rest of the group that he was awoken that morning by the sound of the incoming tidal wave, and looked over to find a note from his wife letting him know that she and their two-year-old daughter were at the beach… and thus are very likely both dead.

Henry tearfully tells the group about his own situation, having had to make the difficult decision to send his two children away while not knowing if his other child and wife are even alive, and Karl asks him if he’s been able to call home yet. When Henry tells him that he hasn’t been able to find a phone, Karl says that he’s been saving his own phone battery in case his family calls, but seeing the depth of Henry’s despair, he offers him the phone so that Henry can use it to call his family back home. Henry quickly places a call to his father-in-law, Brian, and is trembling with emotion before Brian even picks up.

He is then forced to tell the man that his daughter and grandson are yet to be found, putting it simply and tragically: “The water came and swept everyone away.” When his kids are no longer there needing him to be strong, any sense of stoicism melts away and Henry is immediately overcome, crushed by the acknowledgment that his wife and son are likely dead (even when we know that they’ve survived). As he sobs and sputters into the phone, McGregor gives it his all for what is perhaps his most impressive and certainly most heart-wrenching scene to date.

Ewan McGregor’s Performance Is ‘The Impossible’s Best

Through his tears, Henry tells a panicked Brian that a lot of people need to use the phone, so he’ll call him back later, and then completely falls apart after hanging up. While the scene is heartbreaking just by Henry’s devastation alone, it’s made even more so as we watch his fellow survivors rally around him, holding and comforting him as he cries, and knowing that they’re also grappling with their own unimaginable loss. Henry quickly begins to apologize (whether for his display of emotion or for his use of the phone battery, we don’t know), and in response, Karl hands him back the dying cell phone.

He tells Henry that he can’t leave it like that, telling him to call his father-in-law back, while the other survivors encourage Henry and urge him to take the phone. At this moment, Henry seems to realize the bittersweet sense of community that arises from overcoming a mutual tragedy, and spurred on by this show of compassion, he calls Brian back and makes a solemn but determined vow to find Lucas and Maria and make his family whole again.

While The Impossible is full of powerful moments, from the tsunami itself to the emotional reunion of Lucas and his brothers, Henry’s phone call to Brian is so impactful thanks to Ewan McGregor’s epic performance. McGregor goes from suffocating dread to resolute optimism in this three-minute scene, honoring the strength of the man he’s portraying while allowing himself to be completely vulnerable. Naomi Watts was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film, but when watching McGregor’s nuanced and raw performance as Henry, it’s near impossible to believe that her co-star wasn’t given the same honor.

The Impossible is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.

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