And he is not alone.
It did not takeEwan McGregorlong to realize there was a disturbance in the force.
The actor noticed something was askew as soon as he stepped onto theObi-Wan Kenobisoundstage.
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi.Matt Kennedy / Lucasfilm Ltd.
“I came round the set, and it was just this ring of people standing around.”
“They’re usually in places doing work, not just standing.
I couldn’t quite work out what was happening.”
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi.Matt Kennedy / Lucasfilm Ltd.
It wasn’t Obi-Wan they were there to see.
Of course!'"
Honestly, can you blame them?
Ewan McGregor in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Lucasfilm Ltd.
QUI-GON JINN
ANAKIN SKYWALKER, meet OBI-WAN KENOBI.
Christensen still remembers the first time he met McGregor.
“I remember as soon as you saw me,” he smiles to McGregor over a Zoom chat.
Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Lucasfilm Ltd.
“You said, ‘Hayden!’
The warmth of your greeting left such a lasting impression and meant a lot.”
“Initially I was quite skeptical about doing it.
Moses Ingram as Reva in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Matt Kennedy / Lucasfilm Ltd.
I just thought, ‘‘Well, I’m this independent, urban-y, grungy actor over here.
I’m not this kind of guy.'”
That extended into the pair’s epic lightsaber rehearsals.
Joel Edgerton and Moses Ingram in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Lucasfilm Ltd.
“It was just going and playing with your friend every day,” recalls Christensen.
Alas, not everything was fun.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER
If you are SUFFERING as much as I AM, yo tell me.
Moses Ingram in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.Lucasfilm Ltd.
And then the movie debuted.
Reaction to the follow-up prequels was not much kinder.
For the young stars, there was nowhere to hide.
“For it to come out and get knocked so hard was personally quite difficult to deal with.
And also, it was quite early in my career.
I didn’t really know how to deal with that.
So, for sure, that’s challenging.”
“I wasn’t a part of any of those conversations aboutRogue One,” says Christensen.
“But I loved what they did with it.
The character predates me, and it’s always been a collective effort in a lot of ways.
I thought it was brilliant.”
“I don’t really have that.
Maybe because I’ve been in them.
I’ve seen behind the curtain, you know what I mean?
It doesn’t have the same key in of wonderment to me.”
OBI-WAN KENOBI
OBI-WAN KENOBI.
Now that’s a name I have not heard in A LONG TIME.
They say time heals all wounds.
“And ourStar Warsfilms are theirStar Warsfilms.
And that’s beautiful that they were important to the kids who we made them for.
It’s just so nice to finally get that wave of positivity about them.”
That positivity sparked something in McGregor.
(“If you watch those fights, they’re f—ing amazing!
We’re really cooking.")
In interviews, McGregor started expressing an openness toward returning.
Sometimes too much openness, he worried.
And it kept appearing everywhere: ‘McGregor happy to do Obi-Wan!'”
But we want to know if you’re in or not.’
I said, ‘It’s absolutely true!'"
The Jedi’s return to the silver screen was no longer a matter of if, but ratherwhen.
What if this plan FAILS, Master?
We could be STUCK HERE a very long time.
But if not a movie, then what?
That’s when Disney’s then CEO Bob Iger decided to take on Netflix.
That meant creatingThe Mandalorian.
It meant bringing Boba Fett back from the dead.
That’s a pretty bleak period of time.
“This was a character that’s always been a minor obsession of mine,” says Harold.
“Obi-Wan is lost,” says McGregor.
He feels an enormous amount of responsibility for that, and guilt."
The six-episode series focuses on that journey from pain to at least a modicum of peace.
“When we last saw Obi-Wan in the prequels, he’s very emotional,” says Harold.
“There’s a passion to him.
And when we get to see him again inA New Hope, he is the Zen master.
Meanwhile, an internal debate was raging over whether to dare bring yetanotherlarger-than-life character out of retirement.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER
You’re going to NEED me on THIS ONE, Master.
To Vader or not to Vader?
That was the question.
Everybody within our creative team has strong opinions, and all of our fans have strong opinions.
We talked about itconstantly.”
In this case, the dark side won.
“Deborah came up and we spent the day chatting,” Christensen says.
I was very excited to come back."
Not as excited as all those starstruck crew members.
(As to whether 91-year-oldJames Earl Joneswill once again be voicing the character, no one will say.)
“When he first came on set for us, it definitely had a very special feeling.
The first time I saw him in costume, he was towering over me.
He was literally almost twice my size!”
Chow says of Christensen.
I do remember poor Ewan on that day being like, ‘What am I, chopped liver?'"
“The whole experience was very surreal,” Christensen adds of putting the suit back on.
The battle had officially been joined.
DARTH VADER
I’ve been waiting for you, OBI-WAN.
We meet again AT LAST.
And it will do more than just fill the gaps in their personal history.
It will also fill the gaps in the ultimate clash between good and evil.
“The Empire is in the ascendancy,” explains Harold.
And they’re not just hiding from Vader.
“I mean, really like a full-on athlete.
She is on a mission and will conquer that at all costs when given the opportunity.
She is pretty badass.”
I felt like I was 10 again!
It was super dope.")
The director is just as pumped for viewers to be introduced to the new antagonist.
Hopefully Reva’s significance will extend beyond the screen.
Adds Ingram: “We had a lot of conversations about hair and what the right hair might be.
Deborah was really great about moving from the initial vision to what we arrived at for Reva’s hair.
I wanted kids to have their own hair at Halloween.
And that’s huge If you look at all the Black kids with kinky hair.
When they want to be Elsa, they got to put on a blond wig.
[Now] there are so many kids that’ll be able to wear their hair at Halloween.
That’s going to be really exciting.”
So, really, the prequels are the most connected to our series."
“I was so excited to bring them back,” says the director.
Will Luke Skywalker himself be making an appearance?
And he is waking up every morning and doing his job.
That’s what he’s there for."
“It’s got a graffiti-ridden nightlife, and is kind of edgy.
It’s just got a different lane and a different feeling.”
Ah, but how long will we get to seeObi-Wan Kenobiexplore those different lanes and feelings?
“The approach has always been that it is one full story.”
But leave it to the studio head to keep any and all options on the table.
Ewan had an incredible time.
Hayden had an incredible time.
So certainly from that point of view, everybody involved would love to see this not end.
But we have to really spend our time asking the question: Why would we do it?
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Next time try not to LOSE it.
This WEAPON is your LIFE
Moses Ingram clearly thinks the world of Ewan McGregor.
She recalls the encouragement he showed her as she fumbled through predictable rookie mistakes.
The incident in question took place on the oval 75-foot-wide, 23-foot-high virtual LED set known as the Volume.
And he was so embarrassed.
He was like, ‘Pleasedon’t ever tell anyone I dropped my lightsaber!'"
“This is news to me!”
“You mustn’t listen to it,” McGregor shoots back.
“It’s all hearsay and rumor.
She’s just trying to one-up Obi-Wan.”
“All of those lectures, though, Ewan!”
“Yeah, I don’t remember that.
I thinks he’s making that up,” insists McGregor before pausing.
“Okay, I might have inadvertently let it slip.Maybe.”
Christensen’s elation now knows no bounds.
“It’s shocking news.
All I can say is, it’s been a while for Obi-Wan.
He’s not the man that we once remember.
But it’s coming back.”
And just in time.
Order a copy of EW’s final print edition,or find it on newsstands beginning March 18.
