Why Ewan McGregor & Mary Elizabeth Winstead Wanted to Do ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ Together (VIDEO)

Real-life married couple Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead fall in love again on screen in A Gentleman in Moscow.  An adaptation of Amor Towles‘ best-selling novel, the actors play Count Alexander Rostov and film star Anna Urbanova, whose romance takes decades to brew as Alexander spends life under house arrest in Moscow’s Hotel Metropol.

The Count finds himself in this gilded cage in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. The nobleman’s life was spared, but he will be shot on sight if he steps foot outside of the hotel. The hotel’s staff and guests become Rostov’s family as he stalwartly accepts his fate with a determination to make the best of his circumstances, but flashbacks to his troubled past provide a stark reminder of the pain underneath this stately and sensitive man.

Anna, a frequent guest of the hotel, immediately catches the Count’s eye. Their story is one of many parts of the Count’s found family in this romantic and sweeping tale, premiering Sunday, March 31 on the Paramount+ With Showtime channel (formerly known as Showtime).

A Gentleman in Moscow marks the third time McGregor and Winstead have acted together since meeting on set of Fargo in 2016. Their next joint appearance was in 2020’s Birds of Prey. They tell TV Insider why they chose this eight-episode limited series as their next onscreen reunion in the video above. Both of the stars say this was a “no-brainer.”

For starters, “They’re amazing characters to play,” says McGregor. “And Mary’s an amazing actor.” McGregor was attached to the series first, “and then I started reading the novel and, of course, in a couple you’re talking about what you’re reading.” Both realized that these were “dream” roles for their spouse. That they would get to act together again was just an added bonus. “We love working together, so it was perfect. It was really fun,” McGregor gushes.

Winstead “threw [her] hat in the ring” for Anna, but it wasn’t until later when she had already booked the part when she realized that “this was going to be one of the most amazing characters I’ve ever gotten the chance to play.”

McGregor playing his beloved Count was a “dream come true” for Towles. Above, get more behind-the-scenes intel from showrunner, executive producer, and writer Ben Vanstone (of All Creatures Great and Small) and director/EP Sam Miller (the BAFTA-winning director of I May Destroy You).

A Gentleman in Moscow will be available for Paramount+ With Showtime app subscribers on Friday, March 29.

A Gentleman in Moscow, Series Premiere, Sunday, March 31, 8/7c, Showtime