Obi-Wan: McGregor, Christensen & Ingram Tackle Star Wars Questions

There are tons to uncover going into the Disney+ series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, which looks to more definitively fill in the gap between 2005’s Revenge of the Sith and 1977’s A New Hope chronicling the time when the title character played by Ewan McGregor goes into hiding following the Jedi purge Order 66. The show finds him on Tatooine as the secret guardian of Luke Skywalker while trying to elude the forces of the Dark Side and the Galactic Empire. Vanity Fair spoke with stars McGregor, Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), and Moses Ingram (Inquisitor Reva)

When it came to describing her character, “I am an inquisitor. I would call myself the inquisitor actually,” Ingram said. “[She’s] fierce, fiercely intelligent, and very quick on her feet. Someone who is always listening and intent on doing what she thinks is right, even if no one else agrees with what it is that she’s doing.” The second question posed was what each did upon finding out they got cast in Star Wars. Christensen provided a similar answer he did when StarWars.com asked him. McGregor mulled over the decision with research and consulting with loved ones and peers before finally committing. Ingram broke down the exhaustive week-long process before director Deborah Chow informed her.

On the unique challenges of working on a Star Wars project, McGregor cited the blue and green screen environments he had to work on with the prequels. Ingram described the intense four months of training prior to filming and Christensen spoke of the childhood habit he developed trying to refrain from making lightsaber sounds during combat scenes. Picking their most memorable scene was difficult for McGregor, Christensen’s was becoming Vader in RotS, and Ingram’s was her first scene in Obi-Wan stepping off the ship.

When it comes to how Obi-Wan changed each actor’s view of Star Wars, Ingram, who’s new to the franchise described the advantage of not playing a legacy character. “Probably the biggest thing is that it already has millions of fans. I think the thing that’s daunting is that whether people like it or not, I’m absolutely gonna hear about it and that’s scary. It’s also super exciting to be joining a project in which I don’t have the same things to live up to as Ewan and Hayden do. I am coming in as somebody who’s never been here before. So nobody is looking for me to be something specific and I sort of have free reign to be who I think Reva is. I wasn’t a big fan of Star Wars before this. I knew the cultural pinpoints like Vader, ‘Luke, I am your father,’ Obi-Wan, those things. But I think what I’ve appreciated is the depth of the world that George Lucas built and the escapism. It provides so many people and provides myself now. I’ve been very, very happy to join the universe.”

One dramatic change in filming Star Wars today compared to 20 years ago was the introduction of The Volume, which are high definition LED video walls to display CG backdrops that replaced the standard green screen. Christensen described the experience as “incredible” while Ingram felt fortunate to not have to experience the challenges her co-stars had to endure while filming the prequels. “I never had to pretend or imagine where I was. Ewan and Hayden were used to green screens and tennis balls,” she said. “I feel really blessed that I could just walk in and be in whatever environment I was in. You can never really see sort of where it ends because it’s so vast. I think it was one of my favorite things about working on the series.”

The final question was if the actor can meet one Star Wars character, who would it be and why? “Well, I’d like to meet Jar Jar again,” McGregor said. “I loved working with Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks. Maybe we can bring him back.” Best played the Gungan favorite since 1999’s The Phantom Menace appearing with McGregor over all three films. “I guess I’m gonna go with Yoda just to see if I could get some of his wisdom. Maybe some of his knowledge might rub off on me,” Christensen said. Frank Oz voiced Yoda in seven of the nine episodic films. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi streams May 27th on Disney+.