Star Wars: Ewan McGregor Reflects on How His Relationship With Prequels Has Changed in Recent Years

By Patrick Cavanaugh

In the more than two decades since the Star Wars prequel films started landing in theaters, many fans' relationships to those adventures have evolved and changed, with star Ewan McGregor also being someone whose opinion of the experience has changed recently. During a recent press event promoting the upcoming Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, the actor recalled how critically panned the prequel films were, but that younger audiences have become old enough to express their appreciation of the films to him, effectively altering his entire connection to the overall Star Wars franchise. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on May 27th.

"Because I guess you were a kid when those films came out... So we made them for you and it was an odd experience to make those movies... You know, like Moses [Ingram] said, when you step into this world it's a big deal, it's scary. And those films were critically not liked very much. They weren't written very nicely about by the critics," McGregor shared during a promotional event for the new series. "But what we didn't hear at the time was people your age, your generation. We meet those people now that really love our films, but it's taken us 15 years for us to hear that. But it's so nice, it's really nice. It changed my outlook, my relationship with Star Wars it's different because of that, I think. "

At the time of the prequel trilogy's release, they were some of the most anticipated films in history, based on the passionate following the original trilogy of films had earned, which was only heightened by the release of the Special Edition theatrical releases in 1997. In the years since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, a number of different movies and TV series have been released, which has retroactively changed how viewers consume the prequel films.

McGregor went on to recall how much effort went into bringing those films to life, which was a challenge due to director George Lucas' attempts to push the boundaries of technology.

"We put our heart and soul into them, and they were difficult to make, you know. The second one, the third one, there was so much green screen and blue screen, because George was pushing into this new realm that he had designed," the actor recalled. "He was responsible for ILM and he wanted to max out that technology, but that meant for us that we were very much on green screens and blue screens, and it was hard work. And to do that, and be passionate about it, and for the films to be not well received, it was really tough.

He added, "So it's really lovely to have this relationship with them now... And to watch them again, you know, I hadn't seen them since they came out, and in preparation for this show to watch them again was pretty cool. I like them, you know, Episode III is a really good movie."

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ on May 27th.

What do you think of the actor's remarks? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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