Filming Obi-Wan for Disney Plus was terrifying for Ewan McGregor - and for good reason

Date:
Mon, 25 Apr 2022 21:11:44 +0000

Description:
An old wizard and a Dark Lord of the Sith prepare to do battle (and fresh underwear may be needed).

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Fear leads to anger, according to Jedi Master Yoda. But for Ewan McGregor,
the titular star of Disney Pluss new Star Wars show Obi-Wan, coming face to face with an old foe also led to a need for some fresh underwear.

Speaking to our friends at Total Film , McGregor described the moment he went toe-to-toe with the ultimate Star Wars baddie, Darth Vader, for Obi-Wan , summers big streaming event.

"It scared the shit out of me," he says. "Im not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like, Oh my God, thats not acting. Thats real.
Im really, truly frightened right now.

For a veteran of three Star Wars films, ones which saw Darth Vaders (nee Anakin Skywalkers) fall to the dark side, it may come as some surprise that McGregor would have had such a strong response to the characters appearance. But with the prequel trilogy depicting Skywalkers tragic demise, McGregor never actually got to meet Vader in the flesh during his original tenure as Ben Kenobi instead, all his scenes were shared with Anakin Skywalker, as played by the returning Hayden Christensen.

"Ive never met Darth Vader," says McGregor i n the new issue of the magazine
.

"I had rehearsed the scene with Vader, but not with the helmet on or anything like that. When we came to do the scene, when they shouted 'action', he had
to come from behind me. I turned around, and fucking Darth Vader was coming
at me. It was like I was six again. Id never acted into Vaders helmet. Id never looked him in the eye.

It was a similarly visceral response when the star met with his first Stormtrooper battalion.

Id worked with Clone troopers before, but so many of them were CGI. I never worked with Stormtroopers, and, again, I was like seven years old again. Because when youre actually faced with a Stormtrooper, with a blaster, its like: Fucking hell. A force-powered fan

The return of Obi-Wan, hitting Disney Plus on Friday, May 27 (landing with
two premiere episodes, then followed by the series subsequent episodes each Wednesday), has been warmly welcomed by Star Wars fans. And thats not always
a given, with Star Wars fans among the most vocal and critical in all of fandom, particularly since the series rebooted return under the Disney
banner.

But the much-memed McGregor holds a soft spot in many Star Wars fans hearts. Regarded as one of the better elements of the much-maligned prequel trilogy, its well documented that McGregor is a genuine fan of the films. Hes admitted to getting carried away during the filming of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, to the point where Star Wars creator George Lucas had to ask the actor to
stop making lightsaber sounds whilst filming his fight scenes. Like many Star Wars fans, the films have been a part of his life as a cinemagoer since childhood.

"Its like actual childhood memories of being scared, he tells Total Film. Thats how deeply its in us. Ive acted for 30 years, and Ive never been genuinely frightened when Im acting frightened.

But I had moments on this that were genuinely quite scary. Its so funny.

If the return of Darth Vader hit McGregor that hard, it sounds like fans are in for a treat. Heres hoping he kept the high ground . How to watch
McGregor's Star Wars movies to catch up before Obi-Wan



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/filming-obi-wan-for-disney-plus-was-terrifying- for-ewan-mcgregor-and-for-good-reason/


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