Trainspotting 2 director Danny Boyle has said the cast slipped back into their roles despite the long gap between the films.

The new movie, entitled T2 Trainspotting, is a follow up to the 1996 hit and is set in the present day with the main characters now middle aged.

Unlike the first film, which was mostly shot in Glasgow, much of the sequel was filmed in Edinburgh.

Speaking at the premiere in Edinburgh, Danny said: “We wanted to make the film here and we felt a real responsibility towards that, because these stories have been responsible for a lot of our careers really.

Danny Boyle (Jane Barlow/PA)
Danny Boyle (Jane Barlow/PA)

“So you feel an obligation, a pleasurable obligation.”

He added: “They (the cast) are amazingly experienced now.

“They stepped back into the roles… they factored in their own 20 years of experience into their characters and they were off and on their way.

“The past is alive in all of us really. It’s in a telescope, and depending on which end of the telescope you look at, it’s either there or it’s gone, it’s distant, and it preoccupies you more and more in life.

“So it was to get them (the characters) to reflect on that but hopefully in an entertaining and surprising way, and in an emotional way as well I hope.”

As an Englishman, Jonny Lee Miller had the added challenge of reprising his Scottish accent for the role of Sick Boy.

“It wasn’t that hard (to get back into character) but I worked on the accent a bit,” he said.

Jonny Lee Miller (Jane Barlow/PA)
Jonny Lee Miller (Jane Barlow/PA)

“I tend to pick it up by spending some time here, and I worked with a voice coach this time which I didn’t do before.

“But it’s (the character) sort of ingrained really.”

Kelly Macdonald, whose original character Diane makes a cameo appearance in T2, arrived at the premiere with Ewan McGregor.

“Ewan McGregor was my first screen love and I hold him the same sort of affection as I do my first love,” she said.

“I just adore him, and it’s lovely to get to revisit that again really.”

Ewan McGregor and Kelly Macdonald  (Jane Barlow/PA)
Ewan McGregor and Kelly Macdonald (Jane Barlow/PA)

T2 Trainspotting will be released in UK cinemas on January 27.