Reputedly wild Ewan McGregor's claim to be a homebody rings true for a Londoner who got an inside look at his family life while tutoring the Scottish actor's daughter. Cory Bowen crossed paths with the McGregor family in Montgomery, Ala.

McGregor was filming the movie Big Fish there and brought along his family --wife Eve Maurakis and their daughters Clara, 7, and Esther, who is now 19 months -- from London, England, for the January-to-April shoot.

Bowen, 24, first went to Alabama on a softball scholarship from Troy State University and stayed on to teach at the Montgomery Academy private school.

"It was just like a normal family, as down to earth as they could be," says Bowen, who was in London this week on vacation.

Bowen went through the French immersion system in London. At university, she majored in kinesiology, but continued to study French as a minor.

When the McGregors enrolled Clara in Montgomery Academy, they asked whether anyone could tutor her in correspondence French courses. Maurakis is from France and the couple are raising their children to be bilingual.

The school turned to Bowen, who was teaching French.

"They said (Ewan McGregor's) name. I didn't think anything of it," she says. She made the connection with the star of Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and Down With Love only when others got excited for her.

For the first two months, she went to the McGregor home after school to go through the lessons with Clara. "She's a very, very smart little girl."

The two quickly grew close. "She was the sweetest little girl."

Sometimes, Clara would ask her parents if Bowen could "come over to play" on weekends. In time, Bowen did, teaching the girl to play catch.

When McGregor met Bowen, he would ask her about things such as the basketball team she was coaching.

In fact, Bowen became the celebrity in the McGregor house when her team won the city championship. Clara was particularly excited to see the trophy Bowen brought to show them.

She learned of his love of motorcycling. "There was this gorgeous motorcycle in the back yard the last day I was there. He told me he was going to ride it across the country."

"Normal" is the word Bowen uses most often to describe the family. The closest thing to entertainment she saw were the times McGregor sang to his younger daughter. "His voice is just gorgeous."

Bowen began to get a sense of the public's obsession with celebrities while working for the McGregors.

A stranger asked whether Bowen could get her a film job. Students told her they watched for her car in the McGregors' driveway.

She remembers McGregor's patience with autograph-seekers, even those who knocked on the door during meals.

But Bowen is out of the loop when it comes to gossip.

Only recently did she hear about McGregor's pub-drinking reputation or the whispers that he caused the breakup of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.

"I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, especially after spending some time with him," she says.

Bowen said she has been e-mailing back and forth with the McGregors since they left and is hoping to see them again next month. She earned a two-week scholarship to France from Troy State and is planning a weekend in London, England, in the midst of the trip.