Ewan McGregor had a magical connection with the goat who starred in his latest movie. The Scottish actor had to work alongside the animal in upcoming film The Men Who Stare Goats and admits they became very close.

“There was a scene when George [Clooney] and I are lost, and we are sleeping in the desert. I am supposed to be awakened when a goat with a little bell walks by. I follow the goat and it leads us to water. It saves our lives. We did the first take and the goat just ran through,” Ewan said. “But in the second take, the goat looked at me and it stopped perfectly in the frame. It stood there looking at me for almost 30 seconds. I looked at the goat and the goat looked at me, then it was almost as if he nodded and just carried on. It was absolutely perfect.”

Ewan is not the only star of the movie to have praised the goat. George recently joked he wanted the Velvet Goldmine star to take acting lessons from the goat because it was more talented. “I’m now working with goats, we spent a lot of time together. The goat I had to stare out was a great actor - if you told him to do something he would. Now if I only I had got Ewan to take lessons from him we’d be onto a winner!” he quipped. “But although they were good, I don’t think I want to be working with animals again in the near future!”

The Men Who Stare at Goats opens Friday, November 6.