Ewan McGregor has promised that his upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series will feel “so much more real” than the Star Wars prequels.
George Lucas pioneered CG filmmaking on the trilogy, but technology has come a long way since the late 90s and early 2000s. These days, the sci-fi saga is still breaking new ground, though – The Mandalorian stands out thanks to its use of the cutting-edge StageCraft tech, which allows for more tactile environments for the cast to interact with in contrast to the traditional blue and green screens associated with CGI sets.
Obi-Wan will make use of StageCraft as well, and McGregor has praised the filmmaking method while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. The Scottish star explained that it helps immerse himself better into the world of the franchise as a performer, saying:
“They project [the virtual backgrounds] onto this massive LED screen. So if you’re in a desert, you’re standing in the middle of a desert. If you’re in the snow, you’re surrounded by snow. And if you’re in a cockpit of a starfighter, you’re in space. It’s going to feel so much more real.”
This is a massive improvement from the techniques used on the prequels, according to McGregor. The actor admitted that shooting on the movies got “really tedious” after several months of being surrounded by nothing but blue screens. Now that he’s returning for his own series, though, he couldn’t be more enthused. “I’m really excited about it,” he revealed. “Maybe more so than the first ones.”
As we’ve seen from a photo he posted online, McGregor has also been training harder this time around. He told THR that he’s been undertaking “two-and-a-half hour sessions of sword fights and hand-to-hand stuff” to prepare himself for the lightsaber duels in the show. Unfortunately, though, he needed a temporary break from his schedule due to coming down with a fever after getting his second COVID-19 jab.
In the same interview, Ewan McGregor likewise opened up about how difficult it was to deal with the backlash to the prequels, as well as teasing that a young Luke Skywalker may put in an appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi. It all sounds pretty exciting, and the Disney Plus series will film soon in LA before debuting on streaming in 2022.
