[Interview] What We Can Expect From DisneyPlus’ ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

Though the trailer for OBI-WAN KENOBI didn’t reveal much, a faint outline of the 6-part Disney+ series can be seen. Survival is crucial for the order of the Jedi following the events that took place in STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) thinks he’s found a new hope in a pint-sized youngster on the planet Tatooine. But, as he’s attempting to convince the boy’s uncle to let him train the young boy in the legendary ways, Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) and inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram) are in hot pursuit to stop Ben from inspiring a new world order.

Speaking from the series’ recent press day, star McGregor, who reprises his iconic role from Lucas’ prequel trilogy, elucidated on the place where we reunite with Obi-Wan.

“At the end of the third episode, the Jedi order are all but destroyed and those who aren’t killed have gone into hiding and they can’t communicate with one another.  So, for 10 years, Obi-Wan has been in hiding. He can’t communicate with any of his old comrades and he’s living a pretty solitary life. He’s not able to use the Force. In a way, he’s lost his faith. It’s like somebody who’s stepped away from their religion. And the only responsibility to his past life is looking over Luke Skywalker, who he’s delivered to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru at the end of EPISODE III. That’s his only sort of link to his past.”

Director Deborah Chow says that the thrilling challenge was being able to tell a story that hinges two legendary trilogies together.

“We have these huge legacy iconic characters and we’re telling the second act of a story which is often challenging enough. The biggest thing we were looking is to respect the canon and respect what’s been done, but we also needed to have an original story and have an original vision for it. At the same time, it was very exciting that we were bringing back two of these huge iconic characters and telling a new story with them.”

McGregor found it fascinating to revisit the character in his later years.

“It was interesting to take a character that we know and love from Alec Guinness’ creation of the character in the seventies of this wise, sage-like, spiritual man. And then, the work that I did in EPISODE I to III from the Padawan, from the student to the Jedi to somebody’s who;s sitting on the Jedi council, you know, to take that Obi-Wan to this more sort of broken place was really interesting to do.”

Chow added,

“I was really excited at the idea of getting to do a limited series for one just because you get to tell sort of a bigger story, but you also have the time to really get into the character.  First and foremost, I was the most excited about doing a character driven story and really kind of having the opportunity to get more depth and have more time to really get to know the character. I was the most excited about getting the opportunity to do a character different story, in a similar way, obviously it’s a different tone, but something like JOKER or LOGAN where you take one character out of a big franchise and then you really have the time and you go a lot deeper with the character.”

Figuring out the right tone for the series was guided by the titular character’s place on the timeline. Says Chow,

“Obviously, we’re starting in a pretty dark time period and that was kind of quite interesting not only to start with Obi-Wan’s character in kind of a dark place, but also starting in a period in the timeline that’s quite dark. [That] gives us a very interesting starting place for the series. But with the character of Kenobi, for me, he’s always felt like there’s so much warmth, compassion and humor, that it is kind of a character of light and hope. That was interesting for us to try to keep the balance of that, of the darkness, but also still maintaining the hope coming from the character.”

The reunion aspect between Obi-Wan and Anakin felt inevitable – at least to Chow it did.

“It really felt like that there’d be so much weight coming into this story that was connected to Anakin Vader. It just felt natural that, obviously, it would be Hayden and that we would continue this relationship in the series.”

Newcomer Ingram had a blast training for her lightsaber battles.

“It was really fun. It’s fun to be bad. The weaponry and the stunt work, once you get to a point where your body is confident doing the moves, that plays into it as well as the costumes. Our costume designer, Suttirat, did such an amazing job building something that when you step into it, it lends itself to a feeling.”

She continues,

“We trained for about four months before we ever even got to set. The everyday, regular strength and cardio, and then three days a week of Jedi school on top of that which, at the beginning was a little intimidating. Because I come in, we’re doing lightsaber work and, of course, [McGregor’s] being doing this for years. So he’s like, flipping it and wielding it and I’m like, ‘Oh, God, I’m never going to get it. I look terrible.’ But, you know, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”

McGregor adds that you may see some similar choreography to what he’d done in past.

“We started like really, like, months before the shoot together in the fight gym. It was a nice way to get to know each other. The great JoJo, our fight coordinator, is really an amazing, thoughtful man. He’d taken the fights that we did in the original 3 films and he sort of studied them with his crew, his stunt crew, and developed them. Our fight styles are very different anyway in the piece as they should be. I was over on one side doing my choreography and you were on the other side doing yours and we’d sort of try not to clash into each other and we sort of passed each other.”

The inquisitors became popular in the STAR WARS REBELS series and now they’re getting the live-action treatment in this show. Ingram relished being able to bring her character into a three-dimensional, human form, especially when it came to Reva’s look.

“The costume was already made. Hair, in particular, her hair was different in the initial envisioning of the character. It was just something that my hair didn’t do naturally, but Deb was so great about, hearing me out and that’s how we ended up with the braids. It’s really important for me to do what my hair does.”

To help her actors better get into their character’s headspace and imagination, Chow played John Williams’ compositions from the films during the action scenes. Moses valued this.

“And it was sick, too, because we’d be, like, stepping off the ship or, like, you know, doing something else and the music would swell and you’re just, like, feeling like you’re 10 feet tall, you know. It’s very, very cool.”

Chow says,

“That was the big reason we did it because the music obviously it brings the emotional component. And what John Williams has done has been so inextricably tied…it is STAR WARS. If we put it on, all of a sudden I see Moses go like two inches taller and everybody responds to it.”

OBI-WAN KENOBI begins streaming on Disney+ on May 27.