THE LOST JEDI

Two of the biggest names in the Star Wars universe are returning for the latest Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen prepare to draw their lightsabers once more, Total Film meets the stars and director to talk about iconic characters, crises of faith and life beyond Tatooine.

- JACK SHEPHERD

The Force has not always been strong with Ewan McGregor. In fact, had the actor been asked back in 2005, just after Revenge Of The Sith reached cinemas, whether he wanted to continue playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, the answer would have probably been no.

"I found it very hard to make those films," McGregor tells Total Film, reflecting on the prequels. He swivels in his chair, his hair shorter than in The Phantom Menace, as he measures his words, though not too carefully. "It was lots and lots of greenscreen and bluescreen. 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. And also, at the time, they weren't received very well. Every time they were released, they were being hammered. And that didn't feel very good."

Ewan McGregor is looking decidedly more Alec Guinness as he returns to the iconic role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But, as a wise Jedi once said, only a Sith deals in absolutes. Over two decades after McGregor first appeared as Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace, the Scotsman is wearing the robe once more this time in a limited six-episode series set to debut on Disney+. Even now, though, McGregor's not entirely sure what happened to change his mind about returning to that galaxy far, far away. He always knew there was more story to tell between Episode III and IV. That, however, was not reason enough to come back. There had to be something more, and as the years wore on, McGregor began to realize that an entire generation of Star Wars fans was awaiting Obi-Wan's next adventure.

"Those kids we made those films for, grew up," he says. "It was nice to imagine you might be able to give them more. I don't know if it's just being older and a bit wiser or whatever."