Sounds like Darth Vader was (obi-)wan person Ewan McGregor wasn't ready to see!
McGregor revived his role as the Jedi master in Disney+'s upcoming series Obi-Wan Kenobi. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the actor sat down with host Jimmy Fallon to discuss what it was like reuniting with his old pal Darth Vader.
"It was frightening to see him again," McGregor said. "I hadn't acted with Darth Vader and I've been acting a long time. I think I've done a lot of stuff. But the first take with Darth Vader scared the s--t out of me."
When McGregor was rehearsing with Hayden Christensen, who stars as the villain, he didn't have Vader's helmet on, "and then they went, ‘Action!' And I'm walking down and I hear something, I turn around and f--k, Darth Vader is coming at me. I swear to God, I just about s--t my pants, really," McGregor said.
But Fallon can commiserate with McGregor, adding that, "when you're a kid, that is probably one of the scariest villains you'll see."
McGregor replied, "That's it, I think… I was like seven years old again. It was really genuine fear, I've made horror films and stuff. They're not frightening, but that was."
Being scared on set wasn't McGregor's only worry—he also had to remember how to do Obi-Wan's accent.
"I started reading with these other actors, and I totally didn't have his voice at all. It was really bad," he explained. "I was just sort of doing this vague English accent and it didn't sound at all like Obi-Wan Kenobi."
But thankfully, in true Jedi fashion, he mastered it. "I just had to go back and like watch lots of Alec Guinness movies and watch all the original films," he continued. "I got back into it."
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres May 27 on Disney+.
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