Ewan McGregor’s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a long time coming. For many, he was the saving grace of the Star Wars prequels (even if I disagree that he was the only good thing) and his take on the beloved character changed how many of us saw Ol’ Ben Kenobi.
Now, we’re getting a look into Obi-Wan as a character, between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, with the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. For fans, it’s been seventeen years since we last saw him don the robes, so it clearly took some work for McGregor to get back into the Star Wars feel of things.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly about his prep work for the Disney+ series, McGregor explained how he got back into Star Wars, which meant watching the entire Skywalker Saga (sorry to both Rogue One and Solo). “I watched them from start to finish,” McGregor said. “All nine movies. Just to get back in that world.”
Returning to the prequels
McGregor also revealed that he went back to the prequels for the first time since they were released. “It was interesting to watch our films because I hadn’t seen them since they came out, not at all,” he said. “So it was cool to see and interesting to watch them and enjoy them without all of the noise that was around when they came out.”
The “noise” he’s referring to is, obviously, the backlash that came with the prequels. When it comes to Star Wars, there seems to be a “trend” with what movies you love the most. If you grew up with a certain era, you’re more likely see those as your favorites or have a different appreciation for them. And that’s very obvious for those of us who grew up as the prequels were releasing.
Personally, I was seven years old (turning eight later that year) when The Phantom Menace came out, so my appreciation for the films as a whole is different from that of older fans. It wasn’t my first time seeing the franchise (or even Star Wars in a theater, thanks to the rerelease), but it was something that I could consider mine.
The backlash was something that went over my head because I was 13 when Revenge of the Sith came out, and I was more interested in my love for Hayden Christensen (who played Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) and Ewan McGregor than whatever nonsense people were complaining about. But it does make sense that someone like McGregor (and, by extension, Christensen) wouldn’t want to be reminded of.
A different approach
This time around, though, it seems as though McGregor looked into the sci-fi genre as a whole to get into the mindset of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
“I started reading science fiction,” he revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “Iain M. Banks is a Scottish writer, and I started reading his science-fiction novels. I kind of didn’t do it the first [time]. I did absolutely study Alec Guinness and watched the original three Star Wars films when we did the first one, but I didn’t really think about the genre. And it’s not something I would normally do, but this time I did. I got jazzed about being back in space because I really love it as a movie watcher.”
Hayden Christensen went deeper and watched the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels, but knowing that the two threw themselves back into Star Wars with vigor and seeming excitement makes me incredibly happy as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s May 27 premiere approaches.
(image: Lucasfilm)
