I was absolutely thrilled be able to attend this panel. Some had already written it off as a simple chit chat, but what we got was something much more profound as the hour went on.
During the show before the show the excellent host, DJ Elliot, invited all the Obi-Wan Kenobi cosplayers up onstage for a quick photo. As they took their best stance we were all caught by surprise when the man himself, Mr Ewan McGregor, ran out from the wings to give a quick ‘Hello there!’ to all. It was a wonderful moment and displayed Ewan’s playfulness and ease with Star Wars and its fandom. It also certainly caught everyone on-stage by surprise too.
For the panel itself we had director Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, Vivien Lyra Blair, Hayden Christensen, Indira Varma and our host Amy Ratcliffe.
The panel began with talk of how the project had initially been conceived and McGregor can now talk freely that it was going to be a story revolving around Ben and a young Luke Skywalker but when all involved heard of the notion to switch Luke for Leia then a new energy suddenly appeared. Vivien Lyra Blair was the stand-out star on this panel. She talks so intelligently of her role and abilities and Chow commented on the gravity that faced the young performer who would have to take on not only the role of the beloved Princess but also embody that of the irreplaceable late Carrie Fisher. I remember this when seeing Kenobi for the first time last year and after the end of the first episode I had to call a friend of mine straight away to talk about Leia in this show. ‘She’s just got Carrie’s sass down to a fine art!’ I cried.
Chow also spoke of Blair’s ability to learn lines with her photographic memory and how this played a crucial role during the casting process. She has done Leia and Carrie proud and the love for her in the room was just leaping from the crowd. Indira Varma also spoke how along with playing a character of rich duality, she also felt that she likes to think her character helped Leia realise that she could be a leader and spurred her on a little to the path that the young Princess would end up taking.
Moving onto McGregor, he mentioned how one of his favourite aspects of the story was how at the start of his interactions with Leia, as McGregor put it, “He just isn’t that good at it and he’s not great at this fatherly role.” Finding hope again through Leia was really the emotional core of this series and Chow said that when they finally cracked the story it was obvious that the only reason Ben would ever leave Luke is, of course, for Leia.
Moving onto Christensen and his reprisal of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker made the room erupt like nothing before over the weekend on the Celebration Stage. At one point, towards the end of the panel, McGregor and Christensen embraced each other spontaneously. It was clear that this wasn’t for the crowd or the cameras. This was for them. As Christensen put, “We love each other.” As you’d expect there more cheers and grins of 4,300 faces in the crowd.
One of the highlights of the panel was that each cast member got to choose a favourite moment from the series and the clip played above on the screen. One of note included Christensen choosing the climactic duel between Ben and Vader and the cracking of Vader’s mask followed by the brutally intense exchange between the pair. Christensen noted how he feels the scene is a stand-out because of Ewan’s acting here on the lines; “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Anakin. For all of it.” McGregor chimed in that he felt the scene didn’t overtly come across that emotional on the page but the connection between himself and Hayden brought another level of depth. As he noted, “We just have so much history together.”
McGregor’s favourite scene was the one we were all expecting. His final goodbye to Leia in the closing moments of the series. McGregor commented on just how special it was to say, “May the Force be with you, Princess.” This was the first time Ben had said it throughout the series and this felt special because, “It was alive in him once more. It was just so wonderful.” I looked around me during this scene and there were a few wet eyes from all walks of life.
While there was no season 2 announcement, much to the disappointment of the crowd, Ewan did leave us with this little nugget; “Hopefully we can make some more of them, this series, this character.” Queue eruptions and smiling faces.
I highly recommend this panel if you found yourself not totally onboard with this series. There is some genuinely moving talks on the more nuanced storytelling elements of this show.
- Hardcover Book
- Córdova, Zoraida (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 352 Pages - 09/05/2023 (Publication Date) - Random House/Star Wars (Publisher)
