Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Star O’Shea Jackson Jr. Speaks Out on Joining the Mysterious Series

The upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars series on Disney+ brought in an all-star cast to surround returning stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. The cast for director Deborah Chow’s series includes the likes of Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, Moses Ingram, Indra Varma, and the up-and-coming film star O’Shea Jackson Jr. After roles in Straight Outta Compton, Ingrid Goes West, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Jackson is finally living the dream and joining the Star Wars universe in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Very little is known about the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. As with everything in Star Wars, the details surrounding Obi-Wan Kenobi are being kept under wraps. This includes the roles many of the new actors are playing. Collider recently spoke with Jackson about his Star Wars debut, and while he couldn’t say much, he did open up about his experience. He first explained that he had auditioned for Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

“I’m a real big Star Wars fan. I had auditioned for Lando for the Solo film, and when I didn’t get it, it crushed me,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I quit. I’m going back to being a writer. I’m done.’ I was filming Swagger, and my agents were like, ‘Yo, we need you free in the next two days, noon.’ I’m like, ‘All right.’ They’re like, ‘Just listen. You want to take this meeting.’”

“So I took it and it was Deb, Lord Deb. Shout out to Lord Deb. Deborah Chow. She gave me an opportunity of a lifetime,” the actor continued. “I can’t wait to talk about it so bad. I want to talk about it so bad, but I know Mickey probably still has my phone bugged, and I just love my family.”

Jackson went on to say that he has formed bonds not only with McGregor, but also with Nanjiani, who has been showing him the ropes throughout the filming process.

“All I’m going to say is, I really am a fan of Ewan McGregor. That’s my boy,” Jackson said. “And my man, Kumail. Kumail is my dog. Kumail’s really been a major motivation for me when it comes to getting in shape for Den of Thieves 2, because of just how jacked he got for Eternals. Yeah, he’s got his line open for me, any questions that I need. Yeah, he’s got an action figure now, because he’s in the Eternals. I’m going to need that. He said he’ll give me a good price for it. So we’ll see how that goes.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t have an official release date just yet, but it is scheduled to hit Disney+ sometime in 2022.