Summary
- Ewan McGregor opened up about the difficulties of starring in The Phantom Menace and receiving negative reviews.
- Despite the initial backlash, McGregor loves playing the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and is happy to be the character for many.
- There is no talk yet of McGregor returning for a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he would love to do it.
Fans of the original Star Wars trilogy have never been shy about sharing their opinions about everything that has been released since Return of the Jedi, mostly in a negative way. Despite making a triumphant return to the franchise in 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor recently opened up about how hard it was to star in The Phantom Menace and watch the terrible reviews flood in knowing that there were two further movies to be made.
Speaking in an interview published by Variety, McGregor addressed his thoughts on his original venture into the galaxy far, far away, and how the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi was not one that he ever really aspired to play. He explained:
It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. ‘The Beach’ was more important, and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I did ask a lot of people for advice.
Going on to recall the initial reaction to the Star Wars prequels, the actor noted that while he loves playing the role of Kenobi, those brutal first reactions were not something he had anticipated. He continued:
“I am happy that I am this character for a lot of people, but when these films came out, they were so disliked. That was hard. The first one was panned and we still had to make another two! It was weird to be in a film that was hammered.”
Of course, now all anyone wants to know if whether there will be another round for McGregor as the Jedi Master. On that score, his comments are the same as ever. He said:
“I would love to do the second season, but there’s no talk of it yet. There is a lot going on at Disney.”
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Daisy Ridley Recently Opened Up About Backlash to Her Star Wars Movies
The backlash that McGregor remembers coming to The Phantom Menace in 1999 is something that is mirrored in Daisy Ridley’s recollections of her time as part of the sequel trilogy over 15 years later.
Phantom Menace
- Release Date
- May 19, 1999
- Runtime
- 131
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
- Tagline
- Every journey has a first step…
- Franchise
- Star Wars
In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ridley, who will be returning to the Star Wars universe in a new sequel, recalled the way people reacted to the sequel trilogy, and observed that the upset she felt has not gone away. She said:
“I think it’s still upsetting, because you don’t want people to feel like you’ve not served the thing they’re a fan of. But [The Last Jedi] was so divisive, so it really felt like the first one was fairly…everyone was responsive in a similar way. And then, Rian’s one, super divisive, and then the last one, super divisive. It didn’t change how I felt about it.”
The Star Wars Saga can be found at its permanent streaming home of Disney+
