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The film, which premiered Friday night at the Toronto
International Film Festival, also sees McGregor in the lead role
of the hard-working man in late 1960s America whose family
begins to fall apart after his daughter Merry (Dakota Fanning)
becomes politically radicalised.
McGregor, 45, said he had spent years waiting for the right
directorial opportunity to emerge but felt pressure in
interpreting Roth's work on the big screen.
"I was very nervous," said the star of "Trainspotting" at a news
conference on Saturday.
"I think it's a massive responsibility to take on - a
responsibility to the producers, a responsibility to Philip
Roth, a responsibility to everybody who had read that novel and
who liked that novel," he added.
He also wanted to make sure the film "represented me in some
way."
McGregor said Roth has seen the film and reacted positively to
the adaptation of his 1997 masterwork, voted one of Time
magazine's 100 greatest novels.
"It was very important to me that Philip liked the book," he
said.
"Last week, when (producer) Tom (Rosenberg) phoned me to tell me
that he had heard from Philip and that Philip very much liked
the film and felt that we had captured his novel, it was a huge
relief. I hadn't realized how much I had been carrying the fear
of maybe the fact that he wouldn't like it."
Critics were not so kind. Variety called the debut "as flat and
strangled as Philip Roth's novel is furious and expansive."
McGregor is soon to be seen in the second "Trainspotting" movie
as well as the third season of the television series "Fargo".
And he has hopes to direct again soon.
"I'll certainly be keeping my eye open for something. Something
will find me, I guess. The right story will come along. It's an
enormous commitment," he said.
Jennifer Connelly, who plays McGregor's wife in the film, called
her director's debut a "wonderful experience."
"He clearly appreciates acting and actors and made a lot of
space and I think we all felt very supported and eager to
collaborate and explore together and I had a great time," she
said.
"American Pastoral" is slated for release in U.S. theaters on
October 21.
(This story has been refiled to correct release date in last
paragraph to October 21 from October 28.)
(Reporting by Matt Scuffham and Rollo Ross for Reuters TV;
Editing by Mary Milliken)
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