A practicing physician in Britain, the Scottish-born John Hodge began a second career as a well-regarded screenwriter in the 1990s. He has also forged a working relationship with director Danny Boyle and actor Ewan McGregor. His first produced script, "Shallow Grave" (1994), was an original thriller centering on three Scottish roommates who take in a border who dies. The trio then discover a suitcase full of money and their greed and dark sides surface, revealing the superficial nature of privilege and breeding when money is involved. A critical success, the feature also marked Hodge's debut as an actor in the small role of a detective constable.

Although he returned to his medical practice, Hodge continued to write scenarios. His sophomore effort was the adaptation of Irvin Welsh's novel "Trainspotting" (1995; released in the US in 1996), an ensemble piece delving into the drug culture of Glasgow. Like "Shallow Grave", it demonstrated the influence of American films on Hodge's work, with its devotion to story over mere character development. Thrillingly directed by Boyle and featuring a star-making turn by McGregor, "Trainspotting" courted controversy with its intense depiction of heroin use. Hodge received the 1995 British Academy Award for his script. Hodge and Boyle next fashioned "A Life Less Ordinary" (1997), a road picture with romantic comedy overtones that teamed McGregor and Cameron Diaz.