It’s well known at this point that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was jam packed with cameos. One of the most notable — but also easiest to miss — was Ewan McGregor as the voice to Rey’s hallucination sequence after she lays her hands on Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. Through some technical trickery, the geniuses behind Star Wars’ effects were able to mash up McGregor’s new contribution with an old soundbite from Alec Guinness, bringing together both Obi Wan Kenobis to admonish our heroine with “Rey, these are your first steps.”
While he was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night to promote his new film, Jane Got A Gun (also starring fellow Star Wars alum Natalie Portman), McGregor explained how he got involved with the latest Star Wars film.
“I’d been waiting for the call to come for two years. I thought maybe they’ve lost my agent’s phone number. Then I got a call from JJ just shortly before the film was released. He asked me to come in and said, ‘I’d love you to be a part of it.'”
Despite the constant cultural maligning of the Star Wars prequels, it is universally agreed that McGregor’s performance as young Obi Wan Kenobi is one of the highlights, if not the highlight. He seems to look back on his involvement with the franchise fondly, so maybe Disney can find space for a standalone Kenobi film. Surely he got into some cool shenanigans while hiding out on Tatooine.
