At Fan Expo Canada 2025, Ewan McGregor, stepped out to a thousand-strong crowd of fans. Widely known for playing a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace and its sequels, McGregor has played a variety of fascinating characters, including an unemployed addict in Trainspotting, a struggling writer in Moulin Rouge!, and the supervillain Black Mask in the criminally underrated Birds of Prey.
Amidst anecdotes of his travels through Canada, and a near-death experience in Calgary many years ago, McGregor shared his experiences playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, and returning to the role after nearly 20 years.
Ewan McGregor’s path to becoming Obi-Wan
For Star Wars fans, McGregor has become synonymous with Obi-Wan Kenobi. But before he ever put the Jedi robes on, McGregor was making his mark in British cinema. He spoke about leaving drama school early to work on Lipstick on Your Collar, a series written by Britain’s premier television writer, Dennis Potter. “I got this six-month education in front of a camera with Dennis Potter,” explained McGregor to the rapt crowd.
Following the show, he appeared in Shallow Grave, which received rave reviews, and “left a mark on British cinema”. At that point, McGregor “felt so ready”. A feeling that was further heightened by appearing in Trainspotting, which arguably put McGregor on the map.
Despite loving Star Wars since he was six years old, when there was talk about a new Star Wars prequel series, he wasn’t sure it was right for him because of the “urban grungy” films he’d been enjoying working on.
But once the first audition happened, with “hundreds of other actors in Britain”, McGregor got a second callback, and then a third. At that point, he began to realise that it could, in fact, happen. He could be in Star Wars. And the rest is galactic history.
The triumphs of the prequels
There was much talk, and plenty of applause, every time the lightsaber duels were mentioned. While McGregor put paid to any rumours that he made lightsaber sounds while filming, he confessed to indulging in sound effects during rehearsals. “How can you not?” he asked to a screaming audience.
But the fights were hard work. And they got harder with each film. Speaking of the first prequel film, McGregor said his fight with Ray Park “was amazing to do”, not just because of the physicality, but the emotional element, since the big duel occurs shortly after Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn has been killed.
“I'm seeing Liam lying there and, you know, sort of physicalizing that emotion in the fight was extraordinary to do.”
By the time of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, the duels were much more involved. “The ones that me and Hayden [Christensen] did were like weeks and weeks,” said McGregor. “Not only are you learning the fights, but you spend a lot of time just getting fit to do them.” He did mention that lightsaber fights are harder now that he’s older, which elicited an understanding chuckle from the crowd. McGregor is now 54 but he still felt that the lightsaber battles are “brilliant fun to do.”
The trials of the Star Wars prequels
McGregor has spoken at length about the difficulties of working against the green and blue screens of the prequel films. But with time and distance, he was able to see the comedic side of it. “I think George had made a bet with Spielberg or something,” McGregor told the audience, referencing how Star Wars creator George Lucas increasingly relied on CGI backgrounds with every successive prequel film, eschewing actual sets. But all in all, it was a positive experience. “They were hard to do, but we did have a great time making them.”
Unfortunately, when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace premiered, the critics reacted harshly. McGregor surmised that they were waiting to pounce on the film. It was a new experience for McGregor. He hadn’t dealt with such a negative reaction to his prior work.
It was only with the advent of social media—which McGregor was quick to reiterate, he doesn’t like—that he finally learned that there were fans out there who adored the prequel films and his Obi-Wan. For years, he was consistently asked about two things: was there going to be a Trainspotting sequel, and would there be an Obi-Wan series. Eventually, McGregor went to Disney and told them it was getting “embarrassing” answering this question and perhaps they should just bring him back as Obi-Wan.
And so, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was born. It was slated to be a film first, and at some point, the storyline was going to be about Obi-Wan and Luke. But eventually the decision was made to change the story to Obi-Wan and Leia’s adventures, and, if the enthusiastic crowd was anything to go by, it was clearly the right decision for the show. Now, McGregor’s on a mission to get the show a second season. When I say the crowd lost its mind, I am not joking.
The thread binding Ewan McGregor and Alec Guiness
McGregor spoke fondly of Alec Guiness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Though he’d never met Guiness, McGregor felt there was a “thread between the two of us”. He’s read all of Guiness’ books and feels a deep kinship with the late actor, due to the fact that they’re “not dissimilar actors.” As McGregor says, Guiness “wasn't like a classic leading man, he didn't play action leading roles,” and McGregor’s career has followed a similar path.
But despite the grandiosity and enduring legacy of the Star Wars films, as the session came to a close, McGregor spoke passionately about his desire for a return to more human stories. “I want us to get back to making stories about us, human beings, in life, and our experience of what life is.” He also made a plea for returning to making films on film, instead of digitizing everything, which may have something to do with his experiences on Star Wars.
I’d say Ewan McGregor has a point. Considering what’s happening in the world, we could certainly all do with more human stories right now. But we wouldn’t mind a lightsaber thrown in, from time to time.