Even 17 years removed from the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, as Ewan McGregor has watched his own performance of Obi-Wan Kenobi become the stuff of legend to a new generation of fans, there’s one man that he can’t get out of his head: Sir Alec Guinness.
“I still have the challenge of having to become Alec Guinness. That’s my real dream when I’m playing this part, and that’s really my thought,” McGregor tells Esquire Middle East.
For McGregor, Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi, who appeared in Star Wars (1977) in a role that has had a nearly incomparable effect on pop culture, Guinness’ spirit guides his every move through the new series Obi-Wan Kenobi, streaming exclusively on Disney+ starting June 8 in the Middle East.
Ahead of its release, McGregor sat down with us to discuss the series, and coming back to the role he dreamed he would be able to reprise.
Read and watch our full conversation below.
Ewan McGregor talks Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Obi-Wan you played in the prequel trilogy had a certain joy d’vivre, a lightness of spirit. I think a lot of the iconic lines that you brought, whether it’s ‘hello there’ or ‘another happy landing’ had that sort of joy in them.
By the end of Episode III, however, he was a broken man—as he is here in Obi-Wan Kenobi the series. How different was it getting into this version of the character, and was that spirit still within him when you went searching?
Ewan McGregor: Yeah, I think it all comes from Alec Guinness. I always think of him when I think of Obi Wan Kenobi. I think that there’s all the things you’ve described sort of are in his performance. That’s why they ended up in mind. And it’s also in the writing, I guess. George made sure of that. It was also in the relationship between him and Anakin, as there was fun to be had there.
Wait, are you frozen, or are you just being really still?
Nope I’m here!
Ewan McGregor: Oh, you were just being really still! I thought you were frozen there for a minute. That was weird.
Anyhow, you’re right that at the beginning of this series, it’s 10 years after the end of Episode III. I mean, they’re saying that, but think it’s probably a little less. But anyway, regardless of that, it’s that sort of length of time after Episode III.
When we meet him, Ob-Wan is living a very solitary life. Obi Wan has lost all of the people he knew and loved. They either were killed with Order 66, or they’re in hiding and unable to communicate with each other. Vader is in charge. They’re trying to hunt down the very last Jedi, to destroy them. Vader wants to destroy the Jedi Order.
Obi Wan is living a very normal life. He’s trying to not draw attention to himself. And mainly because his responsibility is with Luke Skywalker. He’s overlooking Luke Skywalker, trying to be there to protect him, with maybe the vague idea that he could be a Jedi himself one day, or just that he feels responsible for him as he brought him to Uncle Ben. He’s feels like he should be there. But he also doesn’t want to draw attention to him. That’s where we find him.
How does playing Obi-Wan fulfill you differently as an actor at this point in your career? Coming back to it, do you find that, as you as a person have changed that it changes your appreciation of playing him?
Ewan McGregor: Yeah, I think it very different playing him, because technology is so different. We didn’t have blue screen or green screen anymore. That was the main challenge of the original films.
It’s not so much in Episode I, but by the time we got to do Episodes II and III, George was pioneering digital cameras. We shot the second episode on the very earliest digital camera, with huge umbilical cords coming out of them into this tent at the side of the stage that literally hummed. They made much noise! They were just on techno cranes, so they had to move to zoom the camera in and out. We were ready to do the next set up and there was no set so we weren’t lighting anything.
It was just a very different experience than we were used to when we shot on film, but also when we shot with sets or in locations. It was difficult. I spent a lot of time on my own acting, often to a tennis ball on a stick, in Episode II. I’m walking around with the aliens, I forget what they’re called with the long necks, you know. There was just a lot of time.
With this series, we had this LCD screen that surrounded the stage. We were in the environments, at least virtually, that we were supposed to be in. It was different.
I’m older as well, which means I’m closer in age, though not really very close in age, to Alec Guinness but I’m getting there. Another difference is that it was a different side of him, I suppose. I still have the challenge of having to become Alec Guinness. That’s my real dream when I’m playing this part, and that’s really my thought. I think, does it feel like him? Does it? I know it’s me, but it’s also him I like to sound a bit like him, or feel like him somehow, so some of the lightness comes from Alec Guinness for sure. That’s what was in his performance.