Ewan McGregor has revealed that the Force is still strong within him and that he would be open to reprising his role as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in a future project should the opportunity arise after the Disney+ series is completed.
In an interview for the latest print issue of Total Film, McGregor mentioned that it "was nice to come back and to bridge that gap between me and Alec Guinness['s version from A New Hope]." The actor added, "I got as much, or more, out of playing him this time than I did in the first three movies put together. That’s to do with the writing, and the people we were making the series with, and the technology, and how different everything is. ... [If] we were to get an opportunity to do it again, I’d be totally up for that."
Obi-Wan Kenobi originally entered development as a feature film back in 2017. Then titled Obi-Wan: A Star Wars Story, the film was set to be directed by Stephen Daldry, based on a script by Hossein Amini. However, the movie was canceled along with other Star Wars spinoffs and was later reworked into a limited Disney+ series in August 2019 when McGregor officially entered negotiations to reprise the titular role.
"I’m very happy to be able to make people happy," McGregor said in the same interview. "People wanted this spinoff, whether it was going to be a movie or a TV show, and I’m so happy to have been able to do it. I understand, maybe more, people’s love for Star Wars. It’s an important part of my life, and whether I like it or not, that’s the case. But I do like it. So it’s great."
McGregor previously played Obi-Wan in all three Star Wars prequels between 1999 and 2005. The actor recently admitted that he found "it very hard to make those films" since the filming process involved "lots and lots of green screen and blue screen. By the time we did Episode III, it was almost all entirely green screen. If there was a bit of a set, that was a turn-up for the books. They were just so hard to make." He also recalled how the prequels received a mixed response upon release, with many Star Wars fans reacting negatively to them. "They weren't received very well. Every time they were released, they were being hammered," McGregor said. "And that didn't feel very good."
Obi-Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and finds the titular Jedi Master watching over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. In addition to McGregor, the series stars Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend and Sung Kang. The first two episodes premiere Friday, May 27 on Disney+.
Source: Total Film