Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Actor Previews “Fearsome” Inquisitors

“A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights,” Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) told Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Star Wars: A New Hope. In the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi-turned-Sith Lord isn’t hunting Jedi alone. A decade after Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) ushered in the Great Jedi Purge with Order 66 in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) orders the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) — along with Reva Sevander, a.k.a. the Third Sister (Moses Ingram), and the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) — to hunt down what’s left of the near-extinct Jedi.

“The Grand Inquisitor is the chief of the Inquisitors, and he reports directly to Darth Vader. He’s a pretty powerful member of the dark side,” Star Wars galaxy newcomer Friend told EW of the animated Star Wars Rebels villain’s live-action debut. “And some people who aren’t familiar with Star Wars may or may not know this, but he used to be a Jedi. He used to fight for the forces of good as a temple guard. And he also is one of the people who trained Jedi in fighting styles, so he knows all the things that they know about fighting, and that makes him a pretty fearsome opponent.” 

With Ingram and Kang, the Inquisitors are “a fearsome trio,” Friend said. “When you see them in that second trailer coming off their jump ship, you can just feel the whole of Tatooine kind of cowering. But I also loved how the three Inquisitors are so distinct. Their weapons are different from each other. Sung has that incredible kind of helmet thing. And then Moses brought such an original take to her character. So we were a happy, bad gang.” 

In Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Grand Inquisitor is ordered to hunt down the titular Jedi Master (Ewan McGregor). An enemy of the Empire, the exiled Obi-Wan watches over a young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) — the son of Vader, and twin sister of Leia— on the remote desert planet Tatooine. 

“Obviously, he’s the master of the Force. But to me, it’s that economy of power that demonstrates a truly powerful figure. As in, he’s not running around like a headless chicken chasing after people left, right, and center,” Friend teased of his big bad. “There are plenty of lower minions who can do that. He’s the one who’s trusting the Force, trusting his gut. And he honestly, like a kind of expert rat catcher, just really feels he can sniff out any Jedi hiding anywhere, anytime. So if I were a Jedi and I were being hunted by this guy, I’d be pretty afraid.” 

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 premieres with two episodes Friday, May 27, on Disney+. New episodes will air on Wednesdays beginning June 1.