On This Day: March 24, 1976

By Ciaran Duggan,

Sir Alec Guinness arrived in Tunisia to begin shooting his scenes as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope.

The scenes shot in Tunisia include the famous first meeting between Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, following the Tusken Raider attack.

Little did the legendary actor know that his character, Obi-Wan, would become as iconic as the film itself.

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Ewan McGregor Further Discusses His 'The Force Awakens' Cameo

By: Benjamin Hart

One of the most interesting Easter Eggs in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the inclusion of Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice speaking to Rey during her Force-back in Maz Kanata's Castle. Near the end of the vision you can faintly hear Kenobi say "Rey... these are your first steps." The "Rey" line was achieved by editing a previously spoken line by Alec Guiness, while Ewan McGregor returned to provide the rest of dialogue. McGregor, who hasn't portrayed Obi-Wan since 2005's Revenge Of The Sith, recently spoke with New York Daily News about his small cameo in The Force Awakens.

First off, he discussed being recruited by director J.J. Abrams:

"He just called me really late in the day, I mean just weeks before it was being released. (Abrams) just said that he felt like he wanted me to be a part of the film in some way. I told him I was waiting for the call for a long time."

And he further talked about how he got back into character:

"Of course, it was very peculiar to do it because it had been years since I did Obi's voice, so we watched quite a lot of scenes of me from the films I made, and then I said, 'When I did it, I was watching Alec Guinness so maybe we should set up some Alec Guinness scenes.' So that I wasn't trying to sound like me, I was trying to sound like him."

Weeks after the film was released Ewan finally got to see it and hear his work:

"I just went in; there weren't very many of us because it was the middle of the day... J.J. got to the heart and soul of what we loved about 'Star Wars' as kids. It made me feel proud to be a part of it in one way or another with the three that I did."

You can read the full interview here!

Source: New York Daily News
Via: Star Wars News Net

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Rumor: Ewan McGregor To Return As Obi-Wan In Episode VII

By: Benjamin Hart

While there hasn't been much official Episode VII news lately, there's been no shortage of rumors, thanks to Latino Review. Earlier in the week they reported that Ian McDiarmid would be returning as Palpatine in the Sequels. Now they are claiming, via inside sources, that Obi-Wan of the Prequel trilogy, Ewan McGregor, is set to return to his signature role in Episode VII. Latino Review's Kellvin Chavez writes:

I have confirmed this with three close sources that are on the project and they all confirmed to me that Ewan McGregor would be back as a Force Ghost in the upcoming sequel trilogy. 

Fans have speculated for some time now about the possibility of Obi-Wan making a ghostly cameo in the new Films. And being that Sir Alec Guinness is no longer with us, Ewan would be the obvious choice. And Kellvin points out that McGregor has already made it clear that he's ready to return to the role. Also, Kellvin had this to add at the end of the article:

The interesting part of the conversation I had with my source was that McGregor also wants a solo standalone film! Whether he gets one or not is still up in the air. 

It would indeed be much easier for Ewan to reprise Obi-Wan in a spin-off film that's set in the 19 year period between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope(Ewan himself has suggested this). Perhaps it could be in the same vein as the new Novel "Kenobi" by John Jackson Miller.

Time will tell if these rumors come to fruition. In the meantime, while we wait for official word from Lucasfilm, take this one with a grain of salt.

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