It’s an interesting thought, that Ewan McGregors version of Obi-Wan Kenobi has never come face to face with Darth Vader, but thanks to Total Films Obi-Wan Kenobi issue and their interview with McGregor we now know that not only do they clash, but filming that scene was a legitimate process for Ewan, so much so that meeting the dark lord on set scared the literal sith out of him.
“I’ve never met Darth Vader. I had rehearsed the scene with Vader, but not with the helmet on or anything like that. When we came to do the scene, when they shouted ‘action’, he had to come from behind me. I turned around, and f*****g Darth Vader was coming at me. It was like I was six again. I’d never acted into Vader’s helmet. I’d never looked him in the eye.
“It scared the s**t out of me. I’m not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.’ And the same thing would happen with the Stormtroopers. I’d worked with Clone troopers before, but so many of them were CGI. I never worked with Stormtroopers, and, again, I was like seven years old again. Because when you’re actually faced with a Stormtrooper, with a blaster, it’s like: ‘F*****g hell.’
“It’s like actual childhood memories of being scared. That’s how deeply it’s in us. I’ve acted for 30 years, and I’ve never been genuinely frightened when I’m acting frightened… But I had moments on this that were genuinely quite scary. It’s so funny.”
Series director Deborah Chow also had some evocative memories of Vader being on set.
“There was a moment of silence, collectively, when he first came onto set. Just having Vader standing in front of you is a crazy thing. It’s an amazing thing, but it’s very intense when you first start doing it.”
- Hardcover Book
- Revis, Beth (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 368 Pages - 08/16/2022 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
