Ewan McGregor was absolutely terrified of Darth Vader on Obi-Wan Kenobi set

When you saw Darth Vader for the first time — whether you were a youngling or a full-grown adult — were you terrified? Even Ewan McGregor, who has appeared in multiple Star Wars films, lost his composure when he stared into the eyes of that menacing helmet in person for the very first time.

Speaking with Total Film about the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, McGregor said coming face-to-face with Darth Vader scared him so much that his fear was genuine, not part of playing Obi-Wan in the scene in question.

“When we came to do the scene, when they shouted ‘action’, he [Vader] had to come from behind me,” McGregor explained. “I turned around, and f***ing Darth Vader was coming at me. It was like I was six again… It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.’”

The actor said confronting Stormtroopers was just as unsettling, since he’d never worked with them while filming the prequels.

“The same thing would happen with the Stormtroopers,” he continued. “I’d worked with Clone troopers before, but so many of them were CGI. I never worked with Stormtroopers, and, again, I was like seven years old again.”

Star Wars fans are both eager and nervous to see Obi-Wan and Vader on-screen together for the first time in decades — and with McGregor and Hayden Christensen playing their respective parts, it’s bound to be unlike anything fans have experienced in quite some time.

Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor with appearances by Hayden Christensen and Kumail Nanjiani and is directed by Deborah Chow, who previously directed an episode of The Mandalorian. The series is set to premiere May 27, 2022 exclusively on Disney+.

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