This panel is a pre-ticketed event.

Take a look back at the hit limited series with “Obi-Wan Kenobi’s” Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Indira Varma, Vivien Lyra Blair and executive producer/director Deborah Chow.

Panel Recap

The A Look Back At Obi-Wan Kenobi retrospective panel at Star Wars Celebration LIVE! 2023 brought together the primary cast and creative leadership of the Disney+ limited series to discuss the intense secrecy behind production, the narrative choices that shaped the series, and the deep emotional bonds renewed on set.

The panel consisted of:

Deborah Chow (Director / Executive Producer)

Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader)

Vivien Lyra Blair (Young Princess Leia Organa)

Indira Varma (Tala Durith)

Segment 1: The Weight of Secrecy & Auditions

The conversation opened with the cast expressing relief at finally being able to speak publicly about the series, particularly regarding the surprise inclusion of young Princess Leia [00:21].

Keeping the Lies Straight

Ewan McGregor detailed the exhausting, multi-year process of keeping the project a secret before filming even began [05:26]. During the transition from a proposed standalone feature film to a streaming series, McGregor was forced to constantly dodge speculation on social media and lie to journalists:

“In every interview… the last two questions were always, ‘Is there going to be another Trainspotting?’ and ‘Are you going to do Star Wars again?’… I always had to lie about it or tell a white lie about it or whatever, pretend it wasn’t going to happen.” [06:03]

Undercover Code Names

Vivien Lyra Blair described a grueling audition process that spanned nearly a year [06:50]. To preserve the absolute secrecy of Princess Leia’s involvement, Lucasfilm utilized fake “dummy sides” from pre-existing projects to evaluate her performance [07:12]. Blair noted that the security measures became hilariously complex: “At one point there were code names for the code names… I couldn’t even know the code names until like my seventh audition.” [07:27] She added that director Deborah Chow even went completely “undercover” during early meetings [07:39].

Director Deborah Chow explained that casting a young Leia was one of the project’s most daunting hurdles because they were searching for a child actor who could seamlessly embody the distinct, fiery spirit of Carrie Fisher without falling into cheap mimicry [09:13]. The search ended during a chemistry read in Chow’s office, where Blair demonstrated a photographic memory, fully memorizing her lines in under two minutes [09:36].

Joining the Galaxy

Indira Varma admitted that she didn’t grow up knowing much about Star Wars outside of childhood playground games [03:53]. However, she was completely won over after watching Deborah Chow’s acclaimed directorial work on The Mandalorian [04:09], coupled with a glowing personal endorsement of Chow from her close friend Pedro Pascal [04:15].

Hayden Christensen expressed absolute elation at receiving the initial surprise phone call from a friend at Lucasfilm requesting a secret meeting with Chow, noting that getting to step back into Darth Vader’s armor was an immense thrill [10:14].

Segment 2: Narrative Decisions & Character Evolution

The panel explored the psychological foundations of the series, detailing how they conceptualized a broken version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

A Broken Warrior

Ewan McGregor explained that the creative team wanted to explore the massive emotional trauma weighing on Kenobi following the catastrophic events of Revenge of the Sith [11:31]. The starting point was imagining a highly capable general who has lost his family, his brother, and his entire way of life:

“He can no longer contact [anyone]—he can’t get in touch with Yoda… He’s also carrying the guilt and the sort of shame of having lost his Padawan, having lost his brother and… feeling like it was his fault. I thought that would just be interesting to start there.” [12:15]

McGregor revealed that early story iterations focused entirely on Obi-Wan watching over a young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine [12:41] before shifting the entire focus toward a rescue mission involving young Leia. Chow noted that the shift was narrative-driven: they required an incredibly urgent, undeniable reason for Kenobi to break his vow and physically leave Tatooine, and highlighting Leia allowed them to acknowledge that she carried the Skywalker legacy just as heavily as her twin brother [13:40].

Duality and Double Agents

Indira Varma broke down the layered internal conflict of her character, Tala, a double agent working within the Imperial ranks to smuggle surviving Jedi to safety [14:12]. Varma was deeply drawn to Tala’s deep sense of humanity and moral courage:

“She started from a place of believing in something—the Empire—with such strength, and it let her down. And I think it takes massive courage to turn the other way and live this double life… to make good all the bad that she has witnessed… I love her courage and her strength and her fragility because… she is frightened.” [14:20]

Varma joked that Tala’s primary objective upon meeting Kenobi was to help him “get his mojo back.” [15:34]

“The Half An Italian”

Despite the heavy, dramatic tone of the show, Varma and McGregor kept getting into trouble on set for laughing during serious scenes [15:57]. Varma recalled a frantic action sequence inside a cave where she was supposed to deliver a line about enemy reinforcement counts:

“I had a line which I had to run in and say, ‘There’s half a battalion out there.’ And I was saying the line right, but it just in my head it sounded like I was saying… ‘There’s half an Italian out there.’ And we just could not keep a straight face.” [16:31]

McGregor joked that “The Half An Italian” sounded like an authentic Star Wars character destined to become an official Hasbro action figure by the following year [16:58].

Segment 3: Lightsaber Training & On-Set Time Travel

The panel transitioned to discussing the rigorous physical production, showing a brief clip of the prequel-era flashback training sequence between Obi-Wan and Anakin [26:04].

Picking Up Where They Left Off

McGregor fondly looked back at the elaborate lightsaber training regimens he underwent during the prequels alongside stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, highlighting the immense satisfaction of mastering frantic, high-speed choreography [26:34]. Returning to that intense level of physical fitness 20 years later required significant extra conditioning [27:27].

Christensen described filming the training sequence as absolute “time travel,” explaining that swinging a lightsaber next to McGregor felt completely natural: “It just kind of felt like old hat, you know… like we just picked up where we left off.” [28:55] Chow added that the lead actors performed 99% of their own stunts throughout the series without relying on doubles [29:07].

McGregor recalled the electric atmosphere on set the night they shot the flashback sequence. He walked out of his trailer to find hundreds of regular crew members crammed behind the cameras just to witness the two actors back in their iconic prequel attire [28:21].

Segment 4: Cast Reflections on Key Scenes

The panel reviewed specific personal favorite scenes selected by each individual panelist.

1. Deborah Chow’s Choice: Vader’s First Arrival (Episode 3)

Chow selected the sequence where Darth Vader lands on Mapuzo and begins randomly executing villagers to draw Obi-Wan out of hiding [31:12]. Chow loved directing the scene because it relied strictly on visual terror and pure emotion rather than dialogue [33:51], marking the first time the two characters shared physical space since their duel on Mustafar.

Vivien Lyra Blair noted that during production, she was largely shielded from the scene’s horror because it was shot in fragments [34:54]. However, she recalled the surreal nature of everyday life on set: “I would be like at chairs before we were going into a scene, Darth Vader would just walk past me and I would be like, ‘Okay, there’s just walking past my chair… this is real.’” [35:15]

2. Indira Varma’s Choice: Tala Confronts Riva (Episode 4)

Varma picked the high-stakes interrogation scene where Tala willingly walks into the “lion’s mouth” to lie directly to Reva (the Third Sister) to buy Kenobi enough time to rescue Leia [35:49]. Varma praised Moses Ingram’s intense, commanding presence as Reva, comparing Tala’s internal panic beneath a calm exterior to a “swan paddling really hard” under the water [37:56]. Chow emphasized that casting Moses Ingram was crucial because they required an actor powerful enough to convincingly hold her own alongside Darth Vader [38:38].

3. Vivien Lyra Blair’s Choice: “Are You My Father?” (Episode 5)

Blair selected the quiet, emotional scene on the transport ship where Leia directly asks Obi-Wan if he is her biological father, prompting Kenobi to gently share sparse, fond memories of his own lost childhood and his biological brother [39:06]. Blair explained that shooting on the backlot that day helped her truly connect with Leia’s deep, painful frustration over being kept in the dark regarding her true lineage [41:08]. McGregor praised Blair’s performance, calling it “proper good acting.” [43:43]

4. Hayden Christensen’s Choice: The Cracked Mask Duel (Episode 6)

Christensen selected the climactic emotional pinnacle of the series where Obi-Wan strikes Vader’s helmet, shattering the faceplate to expose a scarred Anakin Skywalker beneath [45:09].

Christensen praised the pitch-perfect scripting and McGregor’s heartbreaking performance, noting that the scene beautifully illustrated the tragic Duality and identity crisis of a character torn between Anakin and Vader [48:22]. McGregor revealed that the scene surprised them both on the day with how overwhelmingly emotional it became [49:36]:

“It was something to just to do with us, you know… we met each other a long time ago in Australia… and then our lives have happened between then and now, and there was something about the experience of working together again because it’s just like we just love each other… all of that sort of was alive in the scene.” [49:41]

5. Ewan McGregor’s Choice: The Final Goodbye (Episode 6)

McGregor chose the resolution where Obi-Wan visits Alderaan to say a proper farewell to Leia, finally identifying the specific traits she inherited from both Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker [50:52]. McGregor confessed that when he later sat entirely alone in an editing bay to watch the completed scene set to John Williams’ music, he couldn’t restrain his emotions: “I was sitting there alone crying my eyes out, I really was… before they came in the room I was like wiping myself.” [53:55]

He loved that the iconic phrase “May the Force be with you” was deliberately held back until this exact scene, signaling that the Force was finally alive within Obi-Wan once more [54:11].

Closing Thoughts

In closing, Ewan McGregor reflected on how much the experience had personally impacted him, noting that the long years of separation had made him appreciate the franchise more than ever:

“There’s something in my heart that’s opened up in terms of the acceptance of… the whole thing in my life… the Star Wars part of my life is back and it feels really good.” [55:52]

He teasingly added, “Some might think we should do some more,” prompting deafening cheers from the audience before the panel concluded [56:19].