Editing Trainspotting (film) (section)

===Casting===
Pre-production began in April 1995. [[Ewan McGregor]] was cast after impressing Boyle and Macdonald with his work on their previous film, ''[[Shallow Grave (1994 film)|Shallow Grave]]''.<ref name="grundy"/> According to Boyle, for the role of Renton, they wanted the quality of [[Michael Caine]]'s character Alfie Elkins in ''[[Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie]]'' and [[Malcolm McDowell]]'s character [[Alex (A Clockwork Orange)|Alex DeLarge]] in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', "repulsive ... with charm 'that makes you feel deeply ambiguous about what he's doing'."<ref name="gordinier"/> McGregor shaved his head and lost 2 stone (12.7 kilograms) for the film.<ref name="gordinier"/> [[Ewen Bremner]] had played Renton in the stage adaptation of ''Trainspotting'' and agreed to play the role of Spud, saying he felt the characters "were part of my heritage".<ref name="grundy"/> Boyle had heard about [[Jonny Lee Miller]] playing an American in the film ''[[Hackers (film)|Hackers]]'' and was impressed when he auditioned by doing a [[Sean Connery]] accent.<ref name="grundy2">Grundy, Gareth (February 1998). "Hey! Hey! We're the Junkies!" Neon. p. 103.</ref> For the role of Begbie, Boyle considered casting [[Christopher Eccleston]] for his resemblance to how he imagined the character in the novel, but asked [[Robert Carlyle]] instead. Carlyle was initially hesitant, believing he was too short to play the character, but Boyle convinced him by telling him, "No, small psychos are better." Carlyle said, "I've met loads of Begbies in my time. Wander round [[Glasgow]] on Saturday night and you've a good chance of running into Begbie."<ref name="grundy2"/> For the role of Diane, Boyle wanted an unknown actress so audiences would not realise that a 19-year-old was playing a 15-year-old.<ref name="grundy2"/> The filmmakers sent flyers to nightclubs and boutiques and approached people on the street, eventually hiring [[Kelly Macdonald]].<ref name="grundy2"/> The casting of [[Keith Allen (actor)|Keith Allen]] as the Dealer was a reference to his role in ''Shallow Grave'' with the implication being that he plays the same character in both.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Danny Boyle - Lust for Life: A Critical Analysis of All the Films from Shallow Grave to 127 Hours|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wr21BAAAQBAJ|publisher = Andrews UK Limited|date = 1 May 2012|isbn = 9780957112803 |first = Mark|last = Browning}}</ref>