Ewan McGregor says it was 'difficult' to finish 'Star Wars' prequels following awful 'Phantom Menace' reviews
- McGregor admitted it was "difficult" to finish prequels after bad reviews of "The Phantom Menace."
- "It was quite difficult for all of us to deal with that," he told Vanity Fair.
Ewan McGregor was given the tough task of playing a young version of Obi-Wan Kenobi when he was cast in the "Star Wars" prequels in the late 1990s.
And looking back now, he said that — on top of having to fill the shoes of the great Alec Guinness, who played the character in the original movies — he had the bad reviews of the first prequel, "The Phantom Menace," hanging over him while making the rest of the trilogy.
"It was hard because it was such a huge decision to do them, such a big event," McGregor told Vanity Fair for its June cover story. "It was quite difficult for all of us to deal with that, also knowing you've got a couple more to do."
McGregor admitted he was initially on the fence about even taking the role.
"I really questioned it a lot," he said. "I felt like I was part of this new wave of British cinema, really, and that 'Star Wars' wasn't me, that's not what I stood for. I was this sort of urban, grungy, independent film actor."
So once the prequels wrapped, he was relieved his journey into "Star Wars" was finally complete.
Except it wasn't.
As the decades passed, not only did the prequels become more appreciated, but his performance as Obi-Wan became a cherished element of the three movies.
Now, McGregor is reprising the role of the Jedi master for the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Kenobi is now on Tatooine watching over young Luke Skywalker and hiding from Vader.
McGregor told Vanity Fair that he's excited about the role this time around because Kenobi is no longer the confident Jedi. He's a lost soul.
"I just said, 'I think that it should be a story about a broken man, a man who's lost his faith,'" McGregor said. "He always has a funny line to say or always seems to be calm and is a good warrior or soldier or whatever, but to see that man come apart, and see what gets him back together again — that's where we started."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi," which also stars Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, premieres on Disney+ on May 27.