Ewan McGregor reveals the real reason he made the Obi-Wan Kenobi series

Ewan McGregor recounts the genesis of his great return as a Jedi. Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally supposed to be a drunken waiter!

Image Credit: Lucasfilm

Two years have already passed since the long-awaited (and uninspired) return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars series of the same name. Set in the bridge period between Episodes III and IV of the saga, the Disney+ series was made possible above all thanks to the insistence of the press and fans that the beloved character returns to the screen. This is what the actor admits in a recent Scene Selection of Vanity Fair, in which McGregor reviewed some scenes from his recent filmography including Fargo, the upcoming A Gentleman in Moscow, and, of course, the science fiction series starring the Jedi Knight.

Ewan McGregor said how the project was born from the embarrassment he felt every time he was asked if he would play Kenobi again.

“The end of every interview was, 'Are you going to play Obi?' And no, there was no plan. Nobody told me anything about it. Eventually, out of the shame I felt, because I was always saying, 'Yes, I would,' and people started drawing the wrong conclusions, like something was brewing... So I finally reached out to someone at Disney, and we sat down, and they told me, 'Are you saying you'd like to do it again? We would like to know if you are serious about this.' I told them, 'Yes, I would like to have the opportunity to finally answer during interviews.' And at that time we were talking about a film, not a TV series, because Disney+ didn't exist yet. in the movie, he had to have a very bad time because of, you know, what happens in Episode 3."

Thus he began the germ of what later became the series. A slightly different starting point, at least as regards how we would find our beloved Jedi, going a little beyond the cliché of the tired and retired hero: “The first episode was supposed to start with me working as a waiter in a bar. He lost his way, Obi-Wan works in a bar, drinks too much, beats me, they kick me and I'm there resisting… these were our first ideas, however, there was a draft where we started like this. ” Lucasfilm decided to reformulate (even paralyzing production) the original project because it was deemed too dark. Other discarded ideas include the presence of Darth Maul as the main villain of the series and a sort of adventure with a newborn Luke Skywalker.

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