Ewan McGregor Talks Star Wars Prequels Love: “It Didn’t Feel Like That When They Came Out”

Ewan McGregor feels the love for the Star Wars prequels. The Obi-Wan Kenobi actor played the younger version of Alec Guinness’ Jedi Master in 1999’s Episode I – The Phantom Menace, reprising the role in 2002’s Episode II – Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Commercial successes but critical failures, creator George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels trilogy nurtured a new generation of fans — moviegoers who grew up with the saga of Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), and Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). 

“I’m only, in the last few years, sort of aware of the generation who we made those films for, the love that there is for the prequels,” McGregor told MTV UK. “Because at the time, it didn’t feel like that. When they came out, I suppose the movie critics were a little sniffy about them. So it’s really nice now to feel that sort of warmth for them, it’s great. It means a lot to us.” 

Though time has been kind to the Star Wars trilogy about the rise and fall of a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), the Jedi Knight turned Sith Lord Darth Vader (Christensen), the initial reception of Phantom Menace was anything but kind. 

“When it came out, we got blasted out of the water and then the movie had this patina around it of failure and stupidity and whatever. The [Star Wars] films were designed for 12-year-olds,” Lucas told StarWars.com for the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace in 2019. “I said that right from the very, very beginning and the very first interviews I did for A New Hope. It’s just that they were so popular with everybody, that everybody forgot that.” 

When Lucas returned to direct his first episode of the saga since the original Star Wars in 1977, “It was 20 years later. So if you were 10 years old when you saw A New Hope, you would be 30 years old when you saw Phantom Menace.”

“You weren’t a kid anymore,” Lucas noted. “I think you were kind of embarrassed, and what you thought was a really fantastic movie for a 12-year-old wasn’t that great for a grownup. I think that was the main cause of the fall of Episodes I, II, and III. Believe me, it took a beating.”

Starring Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Indira Varma, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Kumail Nanjiani, and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is streaming May 27 on Disney+.