Ewan McGregor has a film coming out, and thus he was on NPR the other day. You can listen to the segment (Or not: NPR provides a transcript,) but here’s some of what he had to say about working on the prequels:
“When I got closer and closer to being cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi, I did question whether it was the right thing for me. Up until that point, I’d been involved in mainly low-budget independent films … and I felt like being part of the [indie British filmmaking] team was my identity as an actor … I didn’t think that ‘Star Wars’ was quite who I was or what I was about. However, the closer I got, the more I wanted to do it … I’m very happy with the work I did in ‘Star Wars’ … I’ve always been quite open with the fact that they were technically quite difficult to make. There’s a lot of green screen and blue screen, and for the actor, there’s very often not another actor to act with — so you were playing to a tennis ball on a stick or a piece of tape on a green curtain, and that’s just not easy. That becomes a very technical exercise.”
Huh. I read an interview some years ago when he stated working on Star Wars was one of his worst experiences in film.
Whatever. Loved the man long before he was Obi-wan and continue to love him still.
I’m glad he did the prequels. It wouldn’t have been the same without him. He added a nice subtlety and an air of authority and humor to Obi-Wan.
There’s a difference between the process of making the film and the experience of it.
He’s never stopped being excited about being in Star Wars (especially evident in “Long Way Down”). But doing that kind of technical acting is so not fun for actors; especially ones who work like Ewan.
Of course, I’m a big ol’ Ewan fan, so my opinion is biased.
I’m sure it wasn’t a very technical exercise for him to cash Uncle George’s check.