Ewan McGregor Gives More Details on His Involvement with The Force Awakens
Just a few days after The Force Awakens was released, J.J. Abrams revealed that Ewan McGregor’s voice was used in the movie. During the ForceBack sequence you hear Obi-Wan saying “Rey … these are your first steps.” Now Ewan McGregor spoke for the first time about his involvement during his appearance on Jimmy Kimme Live…
Back in December J.J. Abrams revealed that the word “Rey” was actually said by the late Alec Guinness (taken from another word – afraid). And Ewan did the rest of the line – “these are your first steps.”
Now Ewan McGregor for the first time confirms his involvement. It appears that he was contacted just a few days before the movie was released. Kudos to J.J. for doing this. The fans really love Ewan and many hope that he will be used in a potential future stand alone movie about Obi-Wan beyond 2020.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Disney, give us the film we want – No Boba, no Han, but an OBI-WAN KENOBI film.
Couldn’t agree more!
yes. yes please.
Disney ! Come here and take my money !
Hear hear!
YES! Take money and give Ewan another chance to be Obi-wan!
Cue the “Rey is related to Obi-wan” theorists 😉
Well I sure hope she’s Rey Kenobi. A synergy of Jedi and Mandalorian genes would make the perfect sense!
When you say it like that… it makes her sound even more badass.
Even i like this theory, i prefer Rey Skywalker. Besides that the age don’t match between Rey and Ben Kenobi. in the vision of Rey in TFA, she ‘s like 6-7, and we know there is 30 years between ROTJ and TFA. In TFA Rey looks 20-25 like Luke in ANH. So how could Kenobi be his father. ? Maybe she’s her grand-daughter but i doubt.
Obi -wan is her grandfather and Luke is her father. The mother is Obi-wan’s daughter. This is my guess. Rey is both Kenobi and Skywalker.
yes, that’s exactly what I think 😀 let’s hope she ends up being Rey Skywalker Kenobi
Yeah i could buy that. Definitely. Rey Skywanobi / Rey Kenowalker / Rey Idontknowwhoismyfather.
Rey is 19.
Also, cue the haters’ comments…
Haters of Obi-Wan? Not likely.
If he were Hayden but even the biggest PT haters seem cool with Ewan.
How could Disney not make Obi-Wan movie(s)? Ewan obviously loves these movies, we want it, Boba Fett was delayed/cancelled. C’mon, Disney, get with the program! 🙂
I think Ewan is the only actor in Star Wars that has fully handled portraying a character previously played by someone else, at the point that I don’t care if a film is just very close to ANH but is Ewan instead of Alec. He’s great and he did a great job.
Not a PT fan but the casting was never my problem with the films. Yes that includes Hayden. Always loved Ewan… his Long Way Round series was awesome.
I’m not against him returning as Obi-Wan with Disney at the helm for script writers and directors.
In “Revenge”, Christensen was a little better than he was in “Attack of the Clones”. Even Ewan McGregor seemed bad in Ep.2, and then he’s given us a very good acting in “Revenge”.
Most of the PT’s acting problems were because of the superficial script. I hope that, if we’re going to have a cameo by Christensen in ep.8, a better written role will give us a very better Anakin. Even as a ghost.
Despite the haters of SE i liked to see the young Anakin’s Force ghost as he was before turning to the Dark Side. it’s maybe not the best actor but i can’t figure an other guy doing his role.
No one.
Hayden is a good actor that requires a good director. I agree completely about the casting of the PT with one exception and that was Christopher Lee. I love him as an actor but him being in the film took me completely out of the universe and just thought, “dang that’s Christopher Lee”. Also Samuel Jackson for the exact same reason.
Really? It’s not exactly like Christopher Lee was ever a household name, most people in this generation only know about him because of LOTR and Star Wars, otherwise they would have never heard about his work in Hammer Horror Films which he’s really famous for, him and Peter Cushing. Lee was just a great character actor, perfect for something like Star Wars. Problem is his character was given no time to develop and shared the stage with a group of cartoonish bullshit villains only to be upstaged by Grievous who was a completely non essential character.
I’ll give you Samuel L. Jackson though, he was completely out of place and the trilogy probably would have been better if his character hadn’t even been present to be honest.
There’s nothing that he did on screen that shouldn’t have been Yoda instead, there’s just so much bloat and completely wasted characters that are just there to sell action figures.
Actually Mace Windu was a planned character before Samuel L. Jackson was cast. As the story goes Samuel L. Jackson asked George Lucas if he could be an extra even if it was a Storm Trooper and no one else knew and George Lucas decided one up his request and give him a major role as Mace Windu and Mace Windu proved pretty important during Revenge of the Sith when he attacked the Chancellor. Aside from being an important character that dies that the audience cares about(and even if you didn’t care about the character many did) and he embodies much of whats wrong with the Jedi Order.
Christopher Lee was set to have a bigger role in Attack of the Clones, but it would have been speeches and politicking and after some of the reaction to The Phantom Menace George Lucas decided to cut back on those scenes reducing the Counts role. Actually Count Dooku was the merger of two character concepts. Originally it was a Sith Apprentice(Assajj Ventress) and a Separatist Political Leader, but they figured it would make more sense and be more efficient to merge the two characters into Count Dooku.
The two Scottish actors McGregor and McDiarmid, easily the best thing about the prequels.
The way Christensen portraited Vador at the end of ROTS was pretty good. It’s not he’s fault if he don’t like sand. If you were a slave on desert planet with sand storms, you wouln’t like it either. Natalie Portman and Christopher Lee were good. S L Jackson could be better used but that’s good for me.
Natalie was TRYING to be good. Her performance was sadly shite, despite the fact that she’s actually a very good actor.
She’s great…until she opens her mouth…in anything. Black Swan was painful for that – such a great physical performance, but she should not ever, under any circumstances, be allowed to speak dialogue.
God I hate that movie. She was great in it, but lord I do not need to see a 2 hour nervous breakdown.
I don’t know, I think she was pretty good in the Thor movies.
Honestly, Natalie Portman has been very good in some things, but she’s overrated, her appeal honestly comes from the fact she played a very risqué roll as a young girl in The Professional. She’s an average actress at best, she’s no Meryl Streep or something, and lol she was totally phoning it in and giving the bare minimum in Thor.
Obi-wan anthology trilogy CONFIRMED.
Nice troll
That would be awesome. Personally I think they should have one as a young Padawan(would need a new actor), one during the Clone Wars(with enough make-up and beard McGregor should be able to look young enough), and one set on Tatooine during the Dark Times(with enough make-up and hair die should be able to look old enough).
I wonder where they actually got that piece of Guinness saying “affraid” from – another SW movie?
“…afraid you’d follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade, the same as your father did.” That would be my guess as to the source of the “afraid” line.
Another possibility is it’s from Obi-Wan’s first lines in “A New Hope” spoken to Artoo hiding in the rocks … “Hello there! … “don’t be afraid” …”
I think that is definitely the most likely of scenarios. Another possibility is it may have been taken from “Murder by Death” which was released a year before “A New Hope”. Guinness played a blind butler in that movie and says the word “afraid” alot in that movie. (I’m afraid the house is falling apart.)
“Luke, I’m AFRAID many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view”
Nope. That line is “You’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to…” not “I’m afraid.” The line used was from ANH: “Come here, my little friend, don’t be afraid.”
Count me in among the countless fans wanting an Obi-Wan anthology film starring Mr. McGregor. Also, I wouldn’t mind him appearing as Obi-Wan’s ghost in Ep. VIII and/or IX.
I don’t know what they’re waiting for, Obi Wan is one of the most popular characters in Star Wars history, and he is game for it, and a great actor, do it while he is young
I agree 100%. Ewan’s passionate about the character and SW in general. He’s also the perfect age for an Obi-Wan film set between RotS and ANH. Again, countless SW fans would rather see this than the Han and Boba Fett films. The Obi-Wan film should be a no-brainer. Why Disney’s not doing it just boggles the mind.
Ewan was the only decent new actor in the PT. Too bad he was burdened with such a terrible script and CGI-overdose. I like Ewan but I dont want to see him as a “Force Ghost” in the new Trilogy b/c our last image of Obi Wan is Alec Guiness, not Ewan.
I agree. I’d totally dig an Anthology movie with him though. He deserves to actually be in a good Star Wars movie, and to fight Maul.
What would you do with him though? The story is pretty clear – Obi Wan goes into hiding on Tatooine to watch over Luke. He can’t be hopping around on adventures calling attention to himself as one of the last two surviving jedi between RotS and ANH.
Well, watching over Luke doesn’t necessarily mean stalking him. Still leaves plenty of room over the course of those years to have a bit of fun and adventure here and there.
I think you’re stuck on Tatooine though – there’s no way Obi Wan, having decided to dedicate the remainder of his life to making sure Luke becomes the Vader-killer he and Yoda have been hoping for, is going to go off-world for any length of time. I think you’re also stuck without Obi Wan doing anything Jedi-like, because he’s supposed to be in hiding, or possibly dead.
Anything Jedi like? Like whipping out his lightsaber and cutting off an alien’s arm? I think that Obi-wan could stand to take a bit of time off to help with some important Rebel mission or something. This could even be where he meets Princess Leia or something. Or maybe Bail shows up. Anything. As long as they wrap it up and explain it well, it can work.
The first 5 years on Tatooine make the most sense for him to have off world adventures. Luke as an infant would be a good time to have something big happen for Kenobi. Heck, it could be right after ROTS on the timeline.
Kenobi has been captured in the Prequals.
He could be taken off world by Evil trader barons dealing with Slave merchants
Anything from there, anywhere in the starwars universe could happen, within his desprite attempt to get back to Luke on that old dustball. He could then have problems in the Judlandwastes and of course stop by Mos Espa to snap Wattos neck while he was at it.
If we buy into the Kenobi had a granddaughter theory: what if they did a Lone Wolf and Cub story where he and his daughter must venture off world to save his baby’s mama. Then the daughter and Kenobi part ways at the end and the kid stays with the mama. Kenobi goes back to the hermit life.
He goes to Tatooine. Maul hunts him down. They fight or something. The end.
TFA has more CGI than any other Star Wars movie.
Prequels were mostly practical.
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/practical-effects-in-the-prequels-sets-pictures-models-etc.50017310/
This is not even slightly sorta kinda true at all, most of The Force Awakens was shot on real locations and real sets with real people, there are very extensive scenes that have no digital manipulation whatsoever, on the other hand most of the prequels were shot in front of a green screen and there is hardly a single frame of the films that did not have extensive digital work done to it in post or some kind of cgi character or something added after the fact.
Did you even click the link he posted? A lot of full-sized sets were used in the prequels, and many miniature sets were built and then used as backdrops for the actors. That kind of green screen work hardly counts as digital manipulation.
Of course Jacob didn’t click the link. People like that are too dense to actually research their facts. They prefer to follow popular trends and repeat what others have spouted instead of developing their own original train of thought.
https://youtu.be/xANRmIrulNg
The fans like him (or at least I do) because of how seriously he took his role unlike most of the PT cast. Also how he wasn’t afraid to call out the Prequels on their shortcomings but was also mature enough not to blame the trilogy for “ruining” his career or blame a bad performance on bluescreen since he’s a theatrically trained thespian. I like how he hasn’t let some of his bad experiences in I-III sour him on the saga since he comes off as a true fan.
Probably why he comes off so natural in interiews like this one too, Seems like one of the most real of any of the SW actors.
It was just the young cast that had issues, its not their fault, and they just so happened to be the major players. Sam Jackson was miscast unfortunately. But obviously, Ewan, McDiarmind and Neeson knew exactly how to handle the awkward script, thankfully.
Yeah, It’s probably McDiarmid’s high point far as film acting goes but for everyone else they have to live with this being their worst acting performances being in this trilogy. They got paid a shit load of money for it but it will always be a blemish on their ouevere that will never quite go away.
While I feel Samuel L. Jackson is completely out of place in the Star Wars Universe, miscast doesn’t really describe the situation, on the contrary the character Mace Windu was created specifically for him on his request to be in the film.
They gotta make a Obi Wan spinoff…
Please make an Obi Wan spinoff.
He is in prime age for the role. If I didn’t know better I’d say the man looks 40! Way to go Ewan!
They should do an Obi-wan spin-off instead of a Han Solo spin-off. I just don’t know how they can get away with having anyone else play Han Solo other than Harrison Ford. The only way I can see them doing that spin off is if he’s a kid, which all the older fans will hate and groan about on the Internet, or they do an Animated version which all the older fans will hate and groan about on the Internet. With an Obi-wan movie you’ve already got an actor proven to fill the role and is interested in the role and a concept for when the story should take place between Episode III and IV which Ewan McGregor should be able to fit the bill age wise. Also most fans from all segments of Star Wars fandom generally approve of Ewan McGregor’s performance as Obi-wan.
The fleshed out backstory of Obi Wan overlooking Luke and getting off into side adventures is handled great in the comics. As far as anthology movies go, there’s little doubt they won’t explore that.
“There’s little doubt they won’t explore that …” Sorry, this wording confuses me. Logically, you are saying that there is little doubt they will REFRAIN from making such movies (i.e, it is unlikely we will see any Obi-Wan based spin-offs). Was that what you wanted to express, or are you saying that there is little doubt that they will, indeed, produce such movies eventually?
Kennedy maintained that anthology story would explore No–Jedi story, but I bet Disney will eventually produce OB1 movie, only after ST completed.
Uptill then, storyline concerning Force or lightsaber would be strictly restricted to Episode movies.
Ewan is so hotttt! I miss him.
Wait what?!
There are so many fans begging for a Kenobi movie that Disney would be missing out on a HUGE opportunity. I mean, Maul is being set up for it right now in Rebels so I bet they’re planning it out getting it ready.