Star Wars: Ewan McGregor Has Hilarious Reaction to The Phantom Menace Wig

More than 20 years have passed since Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was unleashed on audiences, and with star Ewan McGregor looking back on the experience, one thing he still can't come to grips with is the wig he was forced to wear for reshoots. Of course, McGregor isn't the only critic of the prequel film, but of all of the rewarding experiences it afforded him, he still can't believe not only how bad the wig he had to wear was, but also that a photo of him in the wig ended up making its way into the film's marketing campaign.

"I remember the idea of it being short. I think they were looking for something in a military sense or in the world of monks that there's some sort of hairstyle sacrifice in order to be a Jedi. I guess to become a Jedi you have to give up the idea of being married or there's some sort of monk-like qualities that are similar," McGregor recalled to Entertainment Weekly. "What I didn't like very much was when we came back, there was always a period of time after the main shoot where we came back to do some reshoots. And for Episode I, it was six, seven, eight months after the principal photography, we had to come back and I was doing something else and I couldn't cut my hair. And so they made a wig that was a short hair wig, which is the worst kind of wig. If you've got a wig and it's long hair, you can disguise the fact that it's a wig, but when it's a short hair wig, it's a nightmare. I've seen some clips of both Episode I and the reshoots from Episode II where you're like, 'Are you kidding me?'"

He added, "And then for Episode I, not only did I have to wear it for the reshoots, and it's usually just a little shot here or there for reshoots. And most people don't really notice it. But some bright spark decided to put me on a poster in the wig! They picked an image of me from the reshoots and I saw myself in this huge poster in the wig. And I'm like, 'Are you kidding? You couldn't find a still of me when from the real shoot?' Unbelievable. I don't know who that was, but I'd love to meet them one day and just say, 'Are you f-cking kidding me about that?'"

McGregor last appeared in the franchise in 2005's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, with the actor finally making his return with the upcoming Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The actor went on to address what audiences can expect from the Jedi Master's hairdo in the upcoming adventure.

"It's a longer haircut. I think it's a man who's been not looking after himself so much, and I wanted a much more sort of unkempt look where Obi-Wan starts at the beginning of that story, he's pretty hopeless," McGregor expressed. "He's without hope, he's without faith and he wanted this sort of hair and beard to represent that. So it's much more less groomed and longer."

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on Disney+ on May 25th.

What did you think of the wig in The Phantom Menace? 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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