Ewan McGregor reflects on prequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi series filming

Actor Ewan McGregor is opening up about his acting career in a new feature published today from The Hollywood Reporter. And, of course, the actor had a bit to share about his career in Star Wars so far, including an update about how filming for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series has been going.

The story opened up with a snapshot of what life has been like for the actor just recently, painting the picture of a feverish McGregor who was overcoming symptoms from his second COVID shot. They wrote in the story, “He was crying — literally crying — in agony” as he dealt with his recovery. And while we know McGregor is as strong as any Jedi can be, that meant putting lightsaber practice on hold for the time being until he was able to recover about 48 hours later.

Here’s what he had to say in the interview:

"It really kicked my a**. It really did.For months, we’ve been doing these monster, two-and-a-half-hour sessions of sword fights and hand-to-hand stuff. But there was no way it was happening this week. Not with a 100.7 fever."

Ewan McGregor returns to Star Wars

Still, now that the series is roughly a month into filming, hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out. And they should be on track for a 2022 premiere date. But the series, as a whole, has been quite fortuitous for McGregor, getting to fill the shoes of Obi-Wan Kenobi once again and many years later following the 2005 release of Revenge of the Sith.

McGregor revealed how it was initially disheartening to be a part of the prequel series when it was not widely loved by all Star Wars fans. He said in the interview it “was hard they didn’t get well received. That was quite difficult. They were universally not very much liked.”

This seems to be water under the bridge now that the actor is getting a second chance to play the character in his spinoff series. “I’m really excited about it,” he said to THR. “Maybe more so than the first ones, because I’m older — I just turned 50 — and I’m just in a much better place.”

Truly, this is a great time for McGregor to return to the Star Wars universe. While it may have been a rocky start when the prequels were first released, his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi has now become a fan favorite — aided by the extensive portrayal of his Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Fans have a much bigger appreciation for the character well over 10 years later (just check r/prequelmemes and see who dominates the top memes every week), and so this should really be his time to shine.

Unfortunately, we will still have to wait about a year until the Obi-Wan Kenobi series comes out. But with a full cast (and some old characters we are hoping to see as well), this should make for one excellent return for Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

For more, follow the Star Wars Actors category on Dork Side of the Force!