A few weeks before the arrival of the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series on Disney+, Ewan McGregor lifts the veil on his first encounter with Darth Vader on set.
Seventeen years have passed since Revenge of the Sith, the third episode of George Lucas’ prequel and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s last appearance. On May 27, the Jedi master returns to the screens in his own series. The opportunity for Ewan McGregor to find his beloved character and once again wield the art of the lightsaber.
In the columns of the magazine Total Movie – who devoted his cover to the event series -, the Scottish actor looks back on the set and in particular on his first meeting with Darth Vader. This is the first time that the interpreter of Obi-Wan finds himself facing the Sith lord. A meeting that he does not seem ready to forget.
“I rehearsed the scene with Vader, but without him wearing his helmet. When he arrived to shoot, the crew shouted “Action!” and he had to come behind me. I turned around and the damn Darth Vader was rushing towards me. I felt like I was six again.”
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Right Reserved. First glimpse of Darth Vader in the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series.
“He freaked me out!launches Ewan McGregor. I am not joking. It gave me a real jolt of absolute fear. I was like, ‘My god, it’s not for playing. It’s real. I am truly and sincerely petrified.’ The same thing happened with the Stormtroopers. I’ve worked with clones before, but a lot of them were done digitally. I never played against Stormtroopers and, again, I felt like I was 7 years old.”
“It was like a childhood trauma. This is to tell you how much it is anchored in ushe continues. I’ve been acting for 30 years and I’ve never been really scared when I was acting scary, but I had moments on set that were actually creepy.”
Same impression from director Deborah Chow: “There were moments of silence when he arrived on set. Seeing Vader standing in front of you is a crazy thing.” To play the iconic antagonist, Lucasfilm once again called on Hayden Christensen, who played Vader during his younger years in episodes 2 and 3.
The first two episodes ofObi-Wan Kenobi can be discovered from May 27 on Disney+.