"Return of the Jedi"
Star Wars Insider Issue 60 June 2002 By Scott Chernoff

The beard tells the whole story. As soon as fans discovered that Ewan McGregor would be not only back in Episode II but also sporting a bear, it was clear that Obi-Wan Kenobi was onhis way to becoming the wizened old wizard we knew and loved in the original Star Wars, when the late Sir Alec Guinness first pulled back his hood and saved Luke's bacon from the Tusken Raiders. McGregor had already crafted a new image of Obi-Wan-less patient, and much more agile-in Episode I, which resulted in Star Wars fans having two versions of Kenobi in mind, the young and the old. Now, beginning with Attack of the Cones, it's Ewan McGregor's job to bridge the gap, to bring together the Padawan whose stunning lightsaber duel with Darth Maul thrilled audiences in The Phantom Menace and the jaded Jedi Knight who faced off against his former pupil Darth Vader in A New Hope. To make these two icons one, we must see the progression that brings Obi-Wan to his refuge in the desert- and the beard is just one small, yet symbolic, step on that path. If any actor is up to the challenge, it's got to be Ewan McGregor.

The 31-year-old Scottish star has already proved his mettle not only in Star Wars but also in acclaimed independent fare like Trainspotting and Shallow Grave and, most recently, in director Ridley Scott'' war drama Black Hawk Down. Last year, he starred in the international hit musical Moulin Rouge, showing off a surprisingly strong voice on the film's top-selling soundtrack. This year, he stars in the British thriller, Young Adam. In Attack of the Clones, McGregor steps out from behind Liam Neeson's shadow and sets out on his own mission.

"I go on a kind of Dick Tracy detective spree, and it's really good," McGregor said. "This bounty hunter has been killed in my arms with a little toxic dart, and the Jedi archives cant find any trace of it. They don't know where it's come from, and then I get a lead. There's some nice underworld stuff." In fact it's just before bounty hunter Zam Wesell's death that McGregor achieves one of his clearest connections to the Obi-Wan of A New Hope. "We chase her into this club, she attempts to kill me, and I cut her arm off," he said, "which is cool, because Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts an arm off in the first film (in the Mos Eisley Cantina). So he's obviously a bit of an arm cutter, isn't he? It's hero stuff when you calmly take someone's arm off and return to your drink. So I get to do that and mirror it a little bit."

It's just one of the ways that McGregor is mirroring the master. "I'm trying to do his voice the best I can," the actor said. "I'm trying to imitate the tune in his voice. There are also moments when I'm going into Jango Fett's apartment, where it's like the scene on the Death Star when Guinness is going around with his hood up to turn off the tractor beam. There are moments that remind me of him-andother bits that don't."

Mull-it Over

But if his beard is providing the most visible signal of Obi-Wan's progression, the actor admitted with a laugh that he had no idea what was up with his new 'do, a style that was most popular among metalheads in a particularly dark corner of the 1980's. "I have a mullet," McGregor said sheepishly. "I don't know, I think the idea is that it's getting longer But it's a mullet, it's true. I have a piece put into the back- I didn't want to wear a full wig, so maybe it's my fault. But it looks all right to me." It's all part of the evolution of Obi-Wan. When he first took the role, McGregor said that Star Wars creator George Lucas "told me it was a part in development. He kept telling me that a lot throughout the first one. I think he was worried I didn't think there was enough in it."

True, Obi-Wan was something of a sidekick in The Phantom Menace, despite his star-making battle with Maul, In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan is calling his own shots- or at least he's supposed to, but Anakin isn't always listening. "They're like two old friend who have been together a long time and spend too much time together," McGregor said. "They argue, but as friends do. Obi-Wan is worried that Anakin's a bit headstrong and overconfident, even arrogant and he thinks the reverse of me- that I'm staid and boring, and I do everything by the book. But they're really close- they've been together probably every day since Qui-Gon Jinn died, I suppose."

At times, Obi-Wan and Anakin bicker playfully like an intergalactic version of The Odd Couple, a lighter approach that McGregor said represents a loosening up since The Phantom Menace, when he said, "The biggest thing was to play everything straight. That's still what I'm doing, but now there's more room for humor. We're allowed to breathe a bit more than we were on the first one. The first one was extremely restrictive. I still don't know why, but all the characters were to be straight. But that seems to be less so on this one. We've been able to have more humanity in it, which is good because it's characters that tell the story, not the background."

McGregor said the increased focus on the characters has made Attack of the Clones an even better experience for him than The Phantom Menace, which he said, "had a lot of work to do in setting up the six stories. That's a tall order. But this one is more reminiscent of the first three. Episodes IV, V, and VI are so character driven because we didn't have all this technology to do stuff with, so the acting had to play more of a part, as it should be. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca-I mean, they're really strong characters.

"Attack of the Clones is more about the characters, and there's a clearer relationship between Anakin and Padme. It's tense at the end, and you can feel the tension building as it goes toward the climax. The structure and pace are much better, and it's funnier. Also, it's much more intricate now. You can see where things are going to go in terms of Anakin. You can start to put the pieces together of how he got to be Darth Vader, and that'' fun."

Jedi Breakdown

McGregor pleaded ignorance when it comes to information on what's in store, specifically, for his character in Episode III. "I don't know what's going to happen in the next one," he said. "I imagine something awful happens- Anakin becomes Darth Vader and I give up. I talk in Attack of the Clones about the 20 Jedi who have given up the order and there's only ever been 20. George hasn't told me whether the whole Jedi thing breaks down and is no more, because Yoda ends up away off in some weird swampy land.

"So it seems the Jedi who are left are either working on the dark side or are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. I suppose something happens, and they split. I believe I go to look over Luke, because I take him somewhere when he's a baby, and Princess Leia gets taken somewhere else when she's a baby. I'm living near where Luke lives in Episode IV, so I must be watching over him, and living in a small white room in a hut. Obviously, there's a huge trust between me and Anakin in these films, which probably leads to the ultimate betrayal in the end."

McGregor didn't have to study up on Obi-Wan's history. He's a life-long Star Wars fan who's talked to Insider before about his Star Wars infused childhood (Insider #41) and his unique connection to the saga in the person of his uncle Denis Lawson, the actor who played heroic Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. But even though McGregor is now an adult and a respected actor, he still retains his enthusiasm for all things Star Wars. "The names are incredible," he enthused. "When you look at the cast list, there are hundreds and hundreds of characters, and they all have names- all of them.

George says he gets some of them from his kids, but I don't suppose he gets them from his kids anymore because when kids are tiny, they come up with silly things like that. But not now." One of his favorite Star Wars names from the prequels: "Orn Free Taa. George told me that one. Orn Free Taa comes form corn fritter- which is deep." But despite his dedication to the saga, McGregor said that to keep himself sane, he's sometimes go to shun the spotlight that comes with the enormous fame of being a star of Star Wars. "Through work, I've always avoided the mayhem," he said. "I've always been working away. When The Phantom Menace was released in America, I was in Ireland, and when it was released in London, I was in Italy. All it's about for me at the end of the day is the film. I've talked about the frustrations of doing it, and they're real frustrations, but they're made worthwhile when you see the finished product, definately- just because of the magic of it."

Technical Difficulties

Nothing signifies both the frustration and magic of making a Star Wars movie more for McGregor than the detailed, technical work that goes into crafting the film's visual effects. Especially difficult, he said, is acting against nothing but blue screen. "It's frustrating a lot of the time," he said, "because there's nothing there, and it's been much more so on this one. There's less and less here, which for an actor is not great. There's no interaction. It becomes technical and there's nothing to play off. It's not what I'm used to doing, or what I particularly like doing the best. There's something very rewarding about cracking a scene with other actors and having achieved it. With this, you do the scene and it feels like nothing's happened. It's like walking through a dead space, and trying to be alive in it. We used to go on location and shoot in beautiful places, and light them. Now you're doing lines against a blue curtain and walking down. It's the weirdest job you'll ever do."

Sometimes, the job can be weird for other reasons. "there's a speeder chase sequence at the beginning, which I'm really looking forward to seeing," he said. "But to do it, we were on a speeder that was rocking about, and it actually made you feel sick after a while. It was like going on a fairground ride over and over again, where you're not allowed to go have a hot dog- you've just got to keep doing it. The actual chase sequence will be something to behold, but in reality, it was just a sick-making experience!" The magic comes when McGregor sees his scenes after the artists at Industrial Light & Magic have filled in all the blue. "When you see the finished film, it's quite awesome," he said, adding, "It's strange- it's like watching somebody else, because the bit you did was surrounded by blue, and then you see this whole thing around you. It's bizarre."

But the actor said that perhaps not knowing what would be animated around him helped his character seem more believable, since the surroundings are pretty ordinary for Obi-Wan. "The frustrations of not knowing exactly what's 'round about you doesn't necessarily show in this film," he said. "All of our characters are space traveling, and the fact that there are thousands of speeders going past us outside the window is an everyday occurrence. It creates more of a sense of belief that they're in that world- because it is about the world. The Star Wars world is what's made it so popular from the word go. The sense of retrospective future is unique. 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away'-it's like looking back at the future, which is very comforting somehow."

Still McGregor said he thinks Attack of the Clones strikes the right balance between what he calls the world of Star Wars and the characters that inhabit it. In this one, you'll be driven along through the story, and all the technical work will it in it's place instead of being in the foreground. It should be background, because that's what it's called, you know." He added with a sly laugh. "It should know its place."

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball

No one would accuse McGregor, known for his sense of humor on the set, of neglecting the human element when it came to approaching his work on Attack of the Clones-especially not young actor Daniel Logan, who played the teenage Boba Fett. Recalled McGregor, "When Daniel opened the door and saw me for the first time, George wanted him to look very suspicious of me. I just told him to pretend like I 'd done a really bad fart. Surpise and bad smells register a similar expression in the face. He was brilliant." Ewan was also present for the unveiling of the human face of C-3PO, when actor Anthony Daniels took on the cameo role of shady Lieutenant Faytonni in the Coruscant nightclub scene.

"I'd never met Anthony before, or if I did it was only for a minute on Episode I," McGregor recalled. "Anthony is great, because he did all three of the originals, so he is Mr. Star Wars. And then for him to be liberated from the suit, to have his part in the bar scene- he was on fire. He was on fire to be out of that suit and in the flesh." While he never worked with C-3PO on The Phantom Menace, McGregor was plenty familiar with R2-D2, and he was happy to reunite with the Star Wars legend-despite the droid's limitations, which were most pronounced during the filming of Episode I.

"If Artoo's standing still and twirling his head and whistling, he's perfect," McGregor said. "But when we start to move him around, that's when the fun starts. He falls over a lot, or gets stuck on gratings. The floors always have grooves in them or something that catch him up now and again. I don't know how he gets down stairs. I've asked George, and he says he does come down stairs, but I don't know- I don't think he does it on just two legs." Once again flashing a roguish grin, he added, "But he's George's favorite actor-which is very telling of George." Naturally, though the actor with whom McGregor must have the easiest rapport is Hayden Christensen who plays Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan's Padawan learner- and future murderer.

"Hayden is stepping into a huge part," McGregor said. "To be the young Darth Vader is a big deal. Also, he's stepping into a bunch of people who know each other, because Ahmed and Natalie and I all made the first one, but he's fantastic. You can see it in him- you can imagine how he ends up losing it and going over to the dark side, because of his frustrations, his ego, and his pain." But despite Hayden's new-kid-on-the-block status, McGregor said there was no need to take the confident Christensen under his wing the way Obi-Wan mentors Anakin. "Hayden's such a cool customer," he said. "He seems to be absolutely fine. You mustn't patronize people- I don't want to be showing him how things are, because everyone has to find out for himself. He doesn't need any of my help-he's brilliant. I love him to death. He's a great kid. It's interesting because he's so young, but very quiet and together. So I don't need to take him under my wing. We've had a few good times out, though!"

Not being the new kid himself was a new feeling for McGregor. "It's the first film I've done where I've suddenly felt I'm in the middle bracket," he said. "I was always one of the youngest ones, and now I'm not. It's funny for me." It's true- the former cinema bad boy, known for playing drug addicts and doing nude scenes, is now a married father of two who's known for fighting bad guys in Star Wars and singing sweet love songs to Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge. But he hasn't lost his childlike excitement over that galaxy far, far away.

In Attack of the Clones, he said with satisfaction, "I have the great line- 'I have a bad feeling about this.' I didn't have that one in the script originally, but George put one in for me because it's important to me that I have that line. It's appeared in all the films." The legacy of Obi-Wan Kenobi, it appears, is in good hands. "Attack of the Clones takes us to a point," the actor said. "But there's a long way to go from the end of this one to the beginning of Episode IV- there's a lot of stuff that's got to happen in Episode III." One of those things that's got to happen, and will: Ewan McGregor's return for the prequel trilogy's final installment. Time to start re-growing that beard.