DUBAI: Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor never thought they would be reunited on a “Star Wars” set. The prequel films they’d given their all to garnered a mixed reception and, as far as they knew, the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker had been told. They had no reason to suspect how much time could change things, nor how much a new generation of fans would revere them like the previous generation had Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. Now, as the two reunite for “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” a limited series coming to Disney+, the cheers for both are louder than ever.
“It’s just been so heartwarming,” Christensen tells Arab News. “I can’t really tell you what it means to me. It’s a really neat thing. I don’t know that I can really define it. But you know, I guess the moral of the story is patience.”
Christensen, who returns as Darth Vader 10 years after the events of “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” saw his Anakin Skywalker surrender to the dark side, has been away from the Star Wars universe, but he never let go of the character nor the world. He saw the love that came his way as the younger fans they had made the films for grew up, and it meant the world to him. His quiet dream was always to play Darth Vader again.
Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ (Supplied)
“I’ve just really enjoyed getting to come back and further my journey with this character. Like me, he’s at a different time in his life, too. When I was doing the prequels, it was very specific to Anakin Skywalker, and now coming back and getting to really explore the character of Darth Vader is such a cool thing,” Christensen continues.
For McGregor, who plays the title role — one of pop-culture’s most-beloved characters, first made famous by Sir Alec Guinness — reuniting with Christensen was a joy.
“When we were acting together, it was really like some sort of time warp,” he says. “Just looking across at him on set was like the last 17 years didn’t happen at all.”
Moses Ingram in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ (Supplied)
While the George-Lucas helmed trilogy they starred in together 20 years ago employed some groundbreaking technology, McGregor is particularly excited — and relieved — that they are returning to the “Star Wars” universe at a time when digital cameras and stage technology have advanced considerably from what they were working with at the turn of the millennium, when green screens became the bane of many actors’ existence.
“It’s night and day, really,” he says. “On Episode II, those cameras were like dinosaurs. They were so noisy that after we finished filming, they realized you could hear the buzz in every scene. We had to dub every single line of Episode II after the fact. None of the original dialogue made it through!
“George was pioneering all of that technology. He was pioneering sound and image as he was pioneering the cameras and the visual effects. He wanted to utilize it as much as he could. But for us, it meant that, more and more, we were on a blue screen or a green screen and that’s challenging for the actors, for sure,” McGregor continues.
Ewan McGregor in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ (Supplied)
On “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” green screens have been mostly replaced with the latest in stage craft LCD technology, which allows sets to be fully projected around the actors during filming.
“I love this new technology,” says the show’s director Deborah Chow. “It’s so exciting, and it’s so interesting to design for it. I think one of the most beneficial things for the actors is that they get the environment around them, and they don’t have to act opposite tennis balls and green screens. I think it really helps with the reality for everyone.”
For Chow, pioneering new tech for the series is a beautiful homage to Lucas’ astounding legacy, both as a filmmaker and a digital visionary.
Ewan McGregor in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ (Supplied)
“It seems very fitting that when we’re telling this story, which is so connected to the prequels, we’re doing it again with a different technology, much of which had its way paved by George himself to tell the story,” she continues.
It’s not just new tech that has joined the set, but new characters, including The Third Sister played by Moses Ingram, the series’ third lead. For Ingram, watching the journey that McGregor and Christensen have gone through has shown her that her own journey, both in front of and behind the camera, is just beginning.
“Ewan and Hayden laid the foundation for this world and have been really great about welcoming me into the fold. And it’s been interesting listening to the talk about their first reactions and how it’s changed over time — what it’s done for them as people and as men,” says Ingram.
“I now know that, however I feel about it now, this is all going to grow and shift and change in the years ahead. It’s a journey, and, because of them, I’m excited to be on it.”