Filming is underway on the highly-anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series!
It began production recently, and star Ewan McGregor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other day to talk about it! Naturally, he didn’t reveal a whole lot of concrete information, but there were a few interesting teases that he gave.
1. A special scene on May the 4th
First, when asked whether they celebrated Star Wars Day on set, McGregor said that they did – and that he filmed something special on that day. “I got to play a very special scene on May the 4th with someone very special in my life, and that’s all I can tell you about it,” he said. “But it was great.” Obviously that kind of statement demanded a follow-up, and to his credit, Kimmel seized the opportunity. He first asked if we’ve seen McGregor on screen with this person before, to which McGregor responded, “No. I don’t think so.” The second question, then, was whether he’s related to this person, and McGregor said, “No, not necessarily.”
Fans have been trying to guess who McGregor was on screen with on May the 4th, but the reality is that we just don’t know. A common guess has been Frank Oz as Yoda, but I’m not sure whether that counts as him sharing screen time before. Most likely, the significance is especially connected to Ewan McGregor personally and not the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi, as it seems to have been a more personal connection, but it coming on May 4th is interesting.
2. A slightly different costume
Next, McGregor spoke to how it felt to put the Kenobi costume on again, and he revealed that the costume is different. “It was good,” he said. “It feels great. I have to say, I’m having a really, really good time. The costume’s probably slightly different than you might expect, but to go back into the role was great. It’s all still there, it feels good. There’s some great, some great scripts. Some great people to work with. And it’s great. I’m having a good time. …” Kenobi’s costume didn’t change a ton from Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope, so we all have a pretty good idea in mind of what it’ll look like in this series – but McGregor notes that it’s slightly different than we expect. It’s probably nothing major, but still interesting.
3. A new filming technique
Continuing that statement from above, McGregor also briefly touched on the technology they’re using to film the series. It will sound familiar to Star Wars fans. “… And we’ve got this technology – you know, before we’ve got this blue screen and green screen acting, and now we’ve got this extraordinary technology where it’s a work inside a big screen, and the backgrounds are on there, so it feels much more realistic,” he said. Kimmel took the interview in a different direction at that point, so unfortunately we didn’t get any follow-up on that, but like I said, Star Wars fans will be familiar with this technology. What McGregor is referring to is The Volume, the groundbreaking filming technology created for The Mandalorian. I expect that this will become more and more standard for Star Wars projects, and probably other projects too. It shows how much can change in fifteen years, in-between McGregor’s work as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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