Ewan McGregor thought he was too “urban grunge” for ‘Star Wars’ after ‘Trainspotting’

"I was like, 'I am the Oasis of the British movie industry'"

Ewan McGregor has said he previously thought he was too “urban grunge” for Star Wars after starring in Trainspotting.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi actor recently reflected on his career in the 1990s on the Smartless podcast, discussing his uncertainty about joining the Star Wars franchise in 1999 after working on Trainspotting in 1996.

“I really had to think about it,” McGregor said. “Because it came right after that Trainspotting period, and by that time I was so full of myself.

Advertisement

“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.’”

The actor added: “I was so into being this sort of antihero. I felt like an indie British actor. I felt like that defined me.”

McGregor went on to say Boyle himself encouraged him to take the role, and that meeting George Lucas helped convince him as well.

“By that time, I was just so attached to the idea of it from when I was a kid,” the actor said. “To get a chance to be that character and play the younger Alec Guinness was pretty awesome.”

Meanwhile, Disney recently shared a trailer for the forthcoming documentary Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return, which will be released on September 8.

The documentary charts Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen’s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker respectively for the first time since 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories