Ewan McGregor says it’s been nice to see a different reception to his Star Wars prequel movies from the generation of “kids who we made them for” while promoting his upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.
While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night, the actor spoke about how he prepared himself to return to the Star Wars universe as the Jedi Master and Anakin Skywalker’s former mentor, who was privy to his transformation into Darth Vader.
“I watched all of them to prepare for this because the last one I did, we shot Episode III in Sydney, Australia, in 2003, I think. So it’s been quite some time — almost 20 years,” McGregor said.
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While laughing, the actor admitted he “didn’t do them in one go,” but that it was “really interesting” to rewatch the first movie, which also starred Liam Neeson as Obi-Wan’s mentor Qui-Gon Jinn and Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, the Gungan military commander and politician.
“It was such a huge thing to happen,” McGregor said, noting how playing Obi-Wan transformed his life and career overnight. “So to go back and watch that movie again was really great fun.”
The Obi-Wan Kenobi star did note, however, that the initial reception to his prequel films — The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) — wasn’t great. Still, the actor believes time has been kinder to the movies, which are now being celebrated by the generation who grew up on them.
“It was tricky at the time. They weren’t overwhelmingly embraced by everybody when they came out, our prequels,” McGregor said. “It was nice to watch them now knowing that people love them. That the kids who we made them for at the time — they loved those films a lot. It was nice to watch them with that sense.”
