One week before the premiere of Obi Wan Kenobi on Disney+, we had the opportunity to attend a press conference for the star wars series featuring stars Ewan McGregor and Moses Ingram and producer and director Deborah Chow. The trio discussed what it took to make the series and how it feels to finally have it premiere after so much secrecy. Here are the highlights of what we learned from the press conference.

Moses Ingram wanted Reva to be a badass but also an inspiration

The Queen’s Bet the star didn’t know she was auditioning for star wars when she read the fake script. But, when she joined the project, Deborah Chow gave her some freedom to make Reva, an inquisitor, her own character. With star wars Having long been a boy-centric franchise, Ingram was thrilled to change things like Reva’s hairstyle to make her an inspiration for little girls playing pretend in a galaxy far, far away. She also underwent four months of lightsaber training alongside Ewan McGregor to prepare for her role as the new Inquisitor, a cast of characters from the animated series making their live-action debut. As Darth Vader’s subordinate, Ingram said it was fun to be bad and that she enjoyed being on set every day.

A new appreciation for the prequels led to this series becoming a reality

Ewan McGregor said his childhood memories of seeing the first star wars led him to meet many fans of the prequels who grew up and told him how much they loved the movies. Due to their positivity, McGregor was much more open to returning to play this character. McGregor said playing the character again was one of the questions he was asked most often (the other was whether he would do Trainspotting 2). After three years of secrecy, it’s exciting to finally be able to talk about the series. Although it’s split into six episodes, McGregor says the series feels like a movie rather than a show. After doing some screen tests on the set of The Mandalorian for two supporting roles on the show, McGregor realized he needed to relearn the accent and looked back on his two performances in the prequels as well as Alec Guinness in A new hope. After that, it was as simple as putting the costume back on.

Deborah Chow was inspired by Joker, Logan and A thug

Deborah Chow, who directed episodes of The Mandalorian before embarking on this series was excited to explore a character-driven story in the Star Wars universe, especially taking someone from a major series and giving their own story like the movies Joker and Logan did. The restrictions of placing the story between two trilogies means that this series functions as both a sequel and a prequel. Respecting the canon was vital for her but also forging an original story. The tone of the series is dark and comes at a dark time in the saga’s narrative where things are very tough for the Jedi. Inspired by A thugthe visuals and the atmosphere, Obi Wan Kenobi will be unlike any of the other main episodes of the series.

Technological innovations and John Williams’ sheet music helped shape Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ewan McGregor noted how different the making of this series was compared to the prequels which relied heavily on blue and green screen on set. McGregor even noted how some cameras used on attack of the clones were so loud they had to re-record every line of dialogue for the entire movie. Deborah Chow praised George Lucas’ pioneering uses of technology on the prequels that led to these series becoming a reality. The Stagecraft technology used on The Mandalorian was very immersive for the cast to feel like they were in the various locations on the show. Chow also played John Williams’ iconic score during production to help bring the characters into the scene, which helped everyone feel like they were in it. Star Wars.

Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen were thrilled to reunite on screen

When Deborah Chow started developing the story for Obi Wan Kenobi, they knew they had to bring Hayden Christensen back as Anakin/Darth Vader. It was only natural to bring him back to continue the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor and Hayden became close during production of the prequels which were filmed in Australia. Being away from home and sharing so much screen time, the couple have become good friends. Over the years, they lost touch, but acting together for this series felt like a time warp and took them back to twenty years ago.

The actors were all very excited for fans to finally see Obi Wan Kenobi hits screens next week and know that fans who have been waiting for Ewan McGregor’s return will be very happy to see this show. From the fight scene choreography rooted in the prequels as well as a darker, sharper tone to what we’ve seen so far, Obi Wan Kenobi is bound to be one of the best Star Wars productions in a long time.

Obi Wan Kenobi premieres on May 27 on Disney+.