Obi-Wan Kenobi series: speculation

I don't want to hate on Ewan, I think no one of us here want it,I still apreciatte him for what he did in the prequel trilogy, but It would be nice from him to say something nice of the prequels instead of beating the dead horse of the blue/green screen 




Althought Obi Wan is my favourite star was character, I was always against the idea of this series,maybe due to fear of ruinig Obi Wan, but Ewan  acting like this makes things not much better, if he will bring how much a "painful/regretable was acting in the prequels,then better don't return, because slanding the source material that made you able to be in this new one to promote it is disrespectful, and I'm sure that is not a good idea to anger the fans of those movies who made you be in the place you are now to please the haters who don't deserve anything from you.

I don't want to dictate what he should opine,is his right and is respetable that he found hard to act in front on green screen,I see what he means, but he already has murned a lot to it to make us clear what he fells, making it over nad over and over again will not change the prequels, If this is all what the promotional campaing will e about then that means the show itself regarding story,characters and all isn't so good to be promoted.

I'm quite excited to see what this series is about, especially for the return of Hayden (who should have been in Rogue One), but I'm also worried for retcons or other slights at the prequels. I'm also preparing for the choir of "It fixed the prequels", like it happened with The Clone Wars. And if Hayden's performance is received badly, the prequels will get more hate, and if his performance is well received, it will be a lot of "He redeemed himself from those awful prequels." So either way there will be shit coming our way. Trying to stay optimistic though. I want to be able to enjoy this since it's Disney giving us prequel fans a bone.


You really have to commend the older actors like Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee and Liam Neeson for not having any trouble with or anything bad to say about greenscreen. They have been very professional about it. I think Natalie Portman also actually appreciated the work and called it the purest form of acting.


I think Filoni is the best we're going to get on that front for a while. He has been injecting a bit of the prequels to the projects he's worked on. I would honestly trust the Kenobi series more in his hands.

Well, Natalie's comment could be considered a backhanded compliment. I suspect her real feelings are closer to Ewan's. As for Ewan himself:

I think he has a different perspective, seeing as he came onboard as a genuine fan of the series, perhaps also believing he was getting to play a young and edgy version of Obi-Wan, when he was basically relegated into the role of a loyal, uptight squire in Episode I. That said, at least he was appearing with Liam Neeson: a great Irishman and a great Scot as the two most significant Jedi of all time!

Furthermore, Ewan was the only principal cast member who never went to Tunisia, Italy, or Spain. The majority of his scenes were on soundstages. In Episode II, he did a lot of acting against cardboard place-holders, or in the arena, fending off invisible monsters. In Episode III, he rode Boga by basically sitting on a box surrounded by greenscreen, battled Hayden over a greenscreen landscape, and even the last scene of the movie, where Obi-Wan delivers baby Luke to the Lars, was done with greenscreen. 

Of course, there were also some sets built, and this is where Ewan's emphasis sounds a bit disingenuous. The Invisible Hand utilised a big set for the fight with Dooku (although Obi-Wan is out cold for most of it), there was that large Jedi briefing room set ("You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges"), Padme's apartment (Ewan had a couple of scenes here), the scenes of Padme giving birth on Polis Massa, the discussion with Bail and Yoda about the twins on the Tantive IV (or Sundered Heart after retconning) -- and that's just Episode III, the one that Ewan has previously claimed was "all green screen". 



That's true. I like Ewan overall. Part of this seems to be a marketing strategy on Lucasfilm and Disney's parts, although it seems that Ewan is only too happy to play along. 


Very true. A lot of work goes into a movie, especially one with the technical complexity and minutiae-laden intrigue of Star Wars. But he never seems to acknowledge that, and as a result, his complaining about the green screen (or blue screen) process starts to sound ungrateful -- even insular. 


I agree that Obi-Wan isn't as complex as Anakin or Padme. They are really what set the PT apart in the character -- and even the acting -- stakes. That said, Ewan does give a handsome performance across the three movies, convincingly portraying Obi-Wan's growth and dashing "Jedi Everyman" maturity in a way that helps sell the final act of the final movie. Even Lucas praises his performance on the commentary track when Obi-Wan tells Padme that Anakin has turned to the Dark Side. Basically, Obi-Wan is needed as the anchor, and Ewan delivers what the role requires with aplomb. He can just be a tad... surly outside of his character.

I dunno. She did ruffle some feathers a few years ago when she seemed to take a shot at the way people perceived her in Episode I:


Many sources reported the comments, including:

The Independent

The Radio Times

Den Of Geek

ABC News

The New Zealand Herald

I've pulled those from the first page of Google results pertaining to "Natalie Portman" and "horrible actress" (I mean no direct correlation there  ).

Even Jonathan Rinzler suggested in one of his blog entries, and then deleted the comments, that Ewan and Natalie "had been wounded" -- which was then changed to "may have been wounded" -- by the negative reviews toward Episodes I and II. He also furnished us with a shining example of Ewan's personality, which he also deleted:


So Ewan and Natalie -- a bit up themselves and not too fond of working on the prequels. The other actors, however, especially Samuel Jackson, Liam Neeson, Christopher Lee, Ian McDiarmid, and Hayden Christensen, all seem grateful, and all seemed to ultimately get what Lucas was going for.


Yep. He can be surly and sometimes comes across like he has a chip on his shoulder. Maybe Anakin was onto something in complaining about Obi-Wan and wanting to surpass him.    

Ewan actually directed American Pastoral: www.imdb.com/title/tt0376479/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_20

I have never seen it, so I can't comment on the quality of the film. Although, apparently it didn't do well at the box office and he took that pretty hard. 

P.S.

Out of all of the Prequel Trio, Hayden is the only one I would want to meet in person. Natalie and Ewan, I love them as actors, but as people they seem pretty unapproachable. 

Oh, definitely. It could create some tension, though. People are funny about actors and in the way(s) they personally connect to characters.

He isn't shy of expressing his opinions, which was obvious in the run-up to the last presidential election. His fanatical intolerance of the conservative right in America, even if I'm sympathetic to his views, may have played a role in Gina Carano, one of his co-stars, being swiftly booted from the show and disavowed by Lucasfilm with a tersely-worded public statement.


Oh, it's very possible. Liam is probably playing a game here. In fact, years ago, at the 16th annual Palm Springs Film Festival in January 2005, he was equally cagey about returning as Qui-Gon for ROTS:


Of course, Lucas didn't include the scene of Yoda speaking with Qui-Gon (only a snippet remains of Yoda meditating before being interrupted by Bail Organa on Polis Massa), but he was clearly thinking of retaining that exchange until late in the process.

Moreover, Liam has previously returned to Star Wars to voice Qui-Gon, playing him in several episodes of "The Clone Wars", and again, more recently, as a disembodied voice in "The Rise Of Skywalker":

starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liam_Neeson