Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Actress Says Their Character Was Originally Love Interest for Ewan McGregor

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi actress Indira Varma says her role in the show was originally going to be the love interest for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan. While doing an interview, Varma (best known for her role as Ellaria Sand in Game of Thrones). It’s becoming more and more public that Obi-Wan actually got some big rewrites from Joby Harold, after production on the series was shut down in 2020. Darth Vader was brought into the mix (and after Obi-Wan Episode 3 it’s obvious why), and a story about Obi-Wan having a thing with Varma’s Tala was cut. 

“There had already been different incarnations of the script and the story line,” Varma tells EW. “And I think, originally, she was going to be a love interest. [Deborah Chow and Joby Harold] They felt that it was maybe a bit clichéd where always the woman turns up and they fall in love or whatever. And it’s more interesting that this is a woman with agency who is not just going to fall at the feet of Obi-Wan.”

Tala and Obi-Wan’s dynamic was that of two operatives collaborating on a high-risk mission. Tala, an Imperial officer who became disillusioned and started rebelling, saved Kenobi and Leia from being arrested at an Imperial checkpoint. In her secret role as a ferry woman helping Jedi and Force sensitives escape, Tala was clearly both an early imprint for who Leia would become later, and the sort of spirit that Obi-Wan would indeed bond to… maybe even more. 

“We talked about several different versions of what her back story could be,” Varma continued. “They would talk about maybe she’d lost a child in a war and that she had therefore become disillusioned. She’d become an Imperial officer because she thought they were going to do good. There were all these storylines that were being bandied around.”

Star Wars fans still burn for what could’ve been between Obi-Wan and Dutchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore; now Tala is on the radar, and that ol’ Jedi Order code doesn’t quite matter anymore…. 

In all seriousness, Varma has nothing but praise for Obi-Wan actor Ewan McGregor: “Working with Ewan, it was just so easy. He’s the loveliest guy and he’s such a laugh. I mean, it was dangerously giggly, to be honest. We did get told off a couple of times for giggling, but I think that’s what’s so lovely. It’s kept alive. You feel like this is not somebody who’s phoning in some performance that he’s already thought of before he got to set.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi is now streaming Wednesdays on Disney+.