Ewan McGregor Thought He Was ‘Grunge’ Personality For ‘Star Wars’ After ‘Trainspotting’

Ewan McGregor almost passed on the “Star Wars” prequels due to his “grunge” persona in British indie cinema. During the 1990s, after McGregor’s success with Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting” in 1996, McGregor second-guessed signing on to “Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”

McGregor portrayed the younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 1999 trilogy, a role which he later reprised for the Disney+ series that premiered earlier this year.

Ewan McGregor opened up about Star Wars

During the “Smartness” podcast, hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, McGregor said, “I had to think about it,” adding, “Because it came right after that ‘Trainspotting’ period, and by that time I was so full of myself.”

McGregor quipped, “I was like, ‘I am Danny Boyle’s actor. I am fucking urban grunge. I am the Oasis of the British movie industry,’ and then when ‘Star Wars came around, I felt, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this. This isn’t me.’ McGregor was concerned about being typecast. He shared, “I was so into being this sort of antihero. I felt like an indie British actor. I felt like that defined me.”

Trainspotting director encouraged to do Star Wars

His uncle, Denis Lawson, was also in all three of the original “Star Wars” films and warned him against doing them, saying,”‘If you want a career after 30, don’t do it.'” However, “Trainspotting” director Boyle said the opposite and encouraged McGregor to do “Star Wars.”

Yet it was McGregor’s childhood affinity for the “Star Wars” franchise that inspired the “Shallow Grave” actor to join the films. “In the end, it just got closer and closer,” McGregor added that meeting George Lucas was part of the deciding factor. He said, “By that time, I was just so attached to the idea of it from when I was a kid. To get a chance to be that character and play the younger Alec Guinness was pretty awesome.”

He added, “I was almost grateful to be involved in something that big and to be part of the legend of it because I loved it. When I was a kid, I loved those films. I was six or seven when the first one came out. It’s in me somehow.” Returning the canon for “Obi-Wan Kenobi” was a homecoming of sorts for McGregor. “I was like a boy again,” he said.

McGregor compared the prequel trilogy to grittier indie films

McGregor explained, “It’s a different process. Those prequels, it was very much the challenge of trying to be believable with this dialogue in front of a blue curtain for four months.” Despite the prequels being “universally” disliked, McGregor’s return in “Obi-Wan Kenobi” was critically praised.

Previously, the actor reflected, “It was tricky at the time. They weren’t overwhelmingly embraced by everybody when they came out, our prequels,” adding, “It was nice to watch them now knowing that people love them. That the kids who we made them for at the time, loved those films a lot. It was nice to watch them with that sense.”

Vishnumahanthi