‘It Scared the **** Out of Me’: Ewan McGregor Talks Darth Vader’s Return

Star Wars fans are just over one month away from the release of the highly-anticipated mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi, and perhaps the most anticipated character–outside of the title one played by Ewan McGregor–is Darth Vader.

It appears that Hayden Christensen–who brought Anakin Skywalker to life in the prequels and is returning to reprise his now-masked role–shed some light on what it was like to put the helmet back on after so many years.

“He gets knighted as Darth Vader towards the end, and for a couple of scenes I get to put the suit on. But my journey with the character was with Anakin Skywalker,” Christensen explained. “But the character? He’s such a complex character. And now, getting to explore the mindset and the emotional state of Darth Vader, has been a lot of fun.”

While fans have gotten a few glimpses of Darth Vader as he was between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, the appearances have been minimal and arguably one-dimensional. Christensen seems to suggest that fans are in for a very complex character as he returns to the screen in the flesh.

Related: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Trailer Released!

Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi will be facing Vader, and he admitted his first scene with Vader was not acting.

“I’ve never met Darth Vader,” he explained, in part. “It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.”

"It’s like actual childhood memories of being scared. I’ve acted for 30 years, and I’ve never been genuinely frightened when I’m acting frightened…But I had moments on this that were genuinely quite scary. It’s so funny.”

– Ewan McGregor on working with Vader #obiwankenobi pic.twitter.com/j4IgHFHh33

— All Things Kenobi (@allthingskenobi) April 25, 2022

It should be noted that it is very likely that when Obi-Wan Kenobi reunited with his former friend and padawan, it would most likely be for the first time since Mustafar. When Alec Guinness introduced the Jedi Master to the world, he makes it clear that Kenobi had seen what Luke Skywalker‘s father had become. (Granted, some readers more familiar with the written canon might dispute this fact, but in terms of Lucasfilm’s cinematic storyline with the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels television shows, there is reason to believe that fans will see Kenobi look upon the Sith Lord‘s menacing mask for the first time.)

Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set for a double-episode release on Friday, May 27, exclusively on Disney Plus, with a theme written by Star Wars composer John Williams.