Obi-Wan Kenobi is all about Ewan McGregor’s Jedi hermit being hunted down by the Empire, but it seems Disney got into the Imperial spirit themselves — just with less sinister intentions — when tracking down a former Star Wars star for the show.
Joel Edgerton has become a big name since cameoing as Owen Lars in Revenge of the Sith, so it was a no-brainer to get him back as Luke’s uncle in the Disney Plus series. But he’s not the only familiar face introduced in Episode III who was invited aboard for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although we haven’t seen much of her so far, Bonnie Piesse was likewise rehired alongside her on-screen husband to reprise Aunt Beru.
While speaking to MovieWeb, the New Zealand native admitted that the studio got hold of her on the down-low, leaving her stunned at the opportunity to return to the galaxy far, far away. As Piesse explained:
“Yeah, pretty much! They tracked me down and basically offered me the role again. The way it came through originally was that it was a message through a casting website. I didn’t know what it was at all and I wasn’t really checking my messages, so I ignored it for a little awhile. But when I realized I would be talking to Deborah Chow I definitely had a moment of freaking out. I knew what that meant when I saw her name, that it was for Kenobi, since I had rumors. I was nervous and excited.”
With Kenobi leaving Tatooine in episode one, the Larses have only featured in the show’s first episode so far, and Edgerton took the lion’s share of the screentime, too. You would think that, after Disney went to the trouble of getting their own Inquisitors to track her down, they would give Piesse more than a background role. So hopefully Piesse will get some more to do as Beru in the season finale.
Things look set to come full circle in “Part VI” as Reva (Moses Ingram) appears to be headed back to the desert planet now that she’s discovered Owen is harboring Darth Vader’s secret son. Obviously, fans know that the Larses don’t die just yet, and Luke is protected by plot armor, but Reva’s return should still result in some high drama and big surprises in Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s final chapter (unless another season actually is happening). Stream it on Disney Plus next Wednesday, June 22.
