Obi-Wan Kenobi: Global Press Conference

The Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+ is almost here after a long wait and plentiful anticipation for the return of Ewan McGregor as the legendary Jedi Master. Star Wars fans are getting ready to embark on a new journey, set between the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, alongside everyone’s favorite hero—who is struggling to hide from a relentless Empire that is looking to obliterate every single Jedi in the galaxy. On May 19th, 2022 Tatooine Times had the honor and privilege of attending the virtual Obi-Wan Kenobi Global Press Conference (moderated by Devan Coggan, senior writer at Entertainment Weekly), where Executive Producer and Obi-Wan himself Ewan McGregor, Executive Producer and Director Deborah Chow, and Inquisitor Reva played by Moses Ingram shared their experience working on Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The interview began with Ewan McGregor, who reflected on his return as Obi-Wan Kenobi after so many years: “It was a very long, slow process of coming back to playing him. At the end of every interview I ever did for years, I was asked two things: Would I do the sequel to Trainspotting, and would I ever play Obi-Wan Kenobi again. I think I became more aware of the fondness that the generation that we made the prequels for had for those films, because when we made them, we didn’t get that response. Gradually, I started realizing that people really liked them and that they meant a lot to that generation … That warmed my feelings about them and my experience of being in Star Wars.” McGregor continued, “Then, Disney just asked me to come in one day for a meeting because they kept seeing on social media that I would like to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again … It looked like I was sort of touting for work at Disney’s door [smiles]. They got me in and asked if I meant it, and I said, ‘Yeah, I would love to play him again.’ There’s got to be a good story between Episode III and Episode IV, and that’s what we definitely found after a lengthy process of exploring different storylines. I think we’ve ended up with a brilliant one that will satisfy the fans sitting between those two episodes.”

Deborah Chow is obviously no stranger to the Star Wars universe, having directed two episodes of The Mandalorian (Chapter 3: The Sin and Chapter 7: The Reckoning) and even making a cameo appearance in Chapter 6: The Prisoner as New Republic X-wing pilot Sash Ketter. The Director shared the reasons why Obi-Wan Kenobi is the perfect opportunity to tell yet another tale of the legendary Jedi: “I was really excited at the idea of getting to do a limited series for one just because you get to tell sort of a bigger story. I was most excited about doing a character-driven story, and having the opportunity to get more depth and have more time to really get to know the character [of Obi-Wan Kenobi].”

Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place about ten years after Revenge of the Sith, which still to this date has prequel fans in tears—watching Obi-Wan leaving Anakin weak and broken on Mustafar’s burning shores is still emotional and hurtful since we all know how loving and brotherly their relationship was in Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars animated series. In the limited series, McGregor shared that Obi-Wan is a broken man, closed himself off from the Force (very much like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi), but he still has the responsibility to protect young Luke from a distance—leading into some tension and disagreement with Owen Lars that was hinted at in A New Hope and further developed in the show. The actor then delved into his return as Obi-Wan, from regaining the iconic voice to walking back on set as the fan-favorite character: “We did screen tests with different actors, and that was the first thing I did as Obi-Wan again since 2003. I was doing a sort of vague English accent, and it wasn’t really Obi-Wan’s voice at all. Luckily, we had months before we actually started shooting, so I went back and did some homework with Alec Guinness and what he’d done before in the original films.” McGregor added, “I walked into the dressing room, and there was a sort of Obi-Wan-ish costume hanging up that The Mandalorian‘s wardrobe department had put together. Putting that on and then walking out onto the set was crazy because there’s so many Star Wars fans in the crew, which was a new experience for me. There was a sort of buzz about Obi-Wan walking back on stage.”

The new Disney+ show not only welcomes back the iconic Jedi Master but also includes his former apprentice and friend, Anakin Skywalker—who in this timeline has left his past life to become the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Deborah Chow reflects on the decision for bringing back Hayden Christensen to the Star Wars universe to portray Obi-Wan’s friend and foe once again: “When we were developing [Obi-Wan Kenobi], we were really looking at the character of Obi-Wan, what was important in his life, what are the relationships that were meaningful. Obviously, the history coming out of Revenge of the Sith is so strong and so powerful that it really felt for us that there’d be so much weight coming into this story that was connected to Anakin, to Vader. I think it just felt natural that it would be Hayden and that we would continue this relationship in the series.” The chemistry between Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen was an essential part of the prequels, and having the actors back together on a Star Wars project is a dream come true for many fans. McGregor said, “We just were so close when we made Episode II and III together in Australia. Over the years, we had slightly lost touch … I hadn’t seen Hayden for years. When I saw him again and was able to talk about this project with him, it was very, very exciting. When we were acting together, it was like some sort of time warp—looking across at him on set was like the last seventeen years didn’t happen at all. It was really peculiar.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi (re)introduces the Inquisitorius—the organization of mysterious, Force-sensitive dark side agents who served the Sith-ruled Galactic Empire that was first introduced in Star Wars Rebels and further explored in both the Darth Vader (2017) comic series and the videogame Jedi: Fallen Order. With that, a new villain to hunt down Kenobi: Reva. Moses Ingram talked about her experience portraying the new main character of the series: “She’s really smart, and she plays the offense … she’s always ten steps ahead. She is a subordinate of Darth Vader, and she’s going to do everything she can to get the job done to the best of her ability. I think I was most intrigued by just her fervor for what she does.” Ingram added, “It was really fun. It’s fun to be bad. The weaponry and the stunt work, once you get to a point where your body is confident doing the moves, that plays into it as well as the costumes. Suttirat [Anne Larlarb] did such an amazing job, our costume designer, building something that when you step into it, it lends itself to a feeling. The costume was already made, but her hair was different in the initial envisioning of the character … It was just something that my hair didn’t do naturally, but Deb was so great about hearing me out on that, and that’s how we ended up with the braids.”

Having Jedi and Sith involved in the storyline, it is only inevitable that fans will get some epic lightsaber duels in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ewan McGregor reflected on his lightsaber training experience in the show: “We were under the great JoJo [Jonathan Eusebio], our fight coordinator, who is really an amazing, thoughtful man. He’d taken the fights that we did in the original three films and he sort of studied them with his crew, and developed them. He’s really a thinking fight arranger which was cool to work on.”

As technology advances, so does the experience working on sets. Over his many years in the entertainment industry, Ewan McGregor has experienced the evolution of VFX stages, from the initial, challenging blue and green screen environments in the prequels to now the immersiveness of StageCraft utilized in the new era of Star Wars storytelling on Disney+: “I’d never worked on the StageCraft set before, and it was such a game changer for us. [While shooting the prequels], it was very hard to make something believable when there’s nothing there. And here we were in this amazing [StageCraft] set where, if you’re shooting in the desert, everywhere you look is the desert; if you’re flying through space, then the stars are flying past you as you scout along … It’s so cool.”

Prequel fans and Star Wars alike, the next chapter of Obi-Wan Kenobi will be available on Disney+ on May 27th. What are you most excited about in this limited series? Let us know on our social media outlets and don’t forget to check out our upcoming series, Obi-Wan Kenobi Double Take, where we will dive into every episode of the show.