He is of course no stranger to the galaxy far, far away, having portrayed Jedi Knight in George Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy, but the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi did mark a major Star Wars first for star Ewan McGregor as the actor found himself on set face-to-face with the series’ most iconic villain.
“I’ve never met Darth Vader,” said McGregor in an interview with Total Film. “I had rehearsed the scene with Vader, but not with the helmet on or anything like that. When we came to do the scene, when they shouted ‘action’, he had to come from behind me. I turned around, and fucking Darth Vader was coming at me. It was like I was six again. I’d never acted into Vader’s helmet. I’d never looked him in the eye.
“It scared the shit out of me. I’m not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.’ And the same thing would happen with the Stormtroopers. I’d worked with Clonetroopers before, but so many of them were CGI. I never worked with Stormtroopers, and, again, I was like seven years old again. Because when you’re actually faced with a Stormtrooper, with a blaster, it’s like: ‘Fucking hell.’”
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McGregor went on to discuss how much he enjoyed his experience on the series compared to the Prequels, adding that: “If we were to get an opportunity to do it again, I’d be totally up for that. It was nice to come back and to bridge that gap between me and Alec Guinness. I got as much, or more, out of playing him this time than I did in the first three movies put together. That’s to do with the writing, and the people we were making the series with, and the technology, and how different everything is.”
“During the reign of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi embarks on a crucial mission. Kenobi must confront allies turned enemies and face the wrath of the Empire.”
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is being directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian), with McGregor joined in the cast by Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars) and Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), as well as Star Wars newcomers Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, Maya Erskine, Benny Safdie and Grant Feely.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on May 27th.
