Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, in his directorial debut, brought an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel "American Pastoral" to the Zurich Film Festival this week and said his wife helped him get behind the camera.

McGregor also stars in the movie, set in late 1960s America, alongside Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning, playing a man whose family starts to fall apart when his daughter becomes politically radicalised.

"I've always wanted to direct for a long time and I always wanted to wait to have a story that I felt I was burning to tell," McGregor told Reuters in an interview.

"Then I was talking to my wife about the fact that I didn't think this one was going to happen and she said 'you should direct that one' (American Pastoral)."

Asked about potentially playing the next James Bond - a role that has been linked to various actors - McGregor joked: "If there are auditions for James Bond, I don't know about them. So I am going to phone my agent immediately to find out."