Ewan McGregor Says ‘Hundreds’ of Crew Members Stormed ‘Obi-Wan’ Set to See Hayden Christensen as Vader

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Darth Vader fandom is a Force unto itself.

The set of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” virtually stopped when Hayden Christensen donned the Darth Vader helmet again for the Disney+ series set 10 years after the events of prequel film “Revenge of the Sith.”

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“What was cool about working on this was so many of the crew members were, like, proper ‘Star Wars’ fans,” Christensen told Entertainment Tonight. “That’s sort of the fun of working on a ‘Star Wars’ project, everybody’s really excited to be there.”

Co-star Ewan McGregor, who plays the Jedi Master, revealed that “hundreds of people appeared [all over the set]” to catch a glimpse of Christensen in costume.

“I was like, ‘Why are there so many people here today?’,” McGregor recalled. “Hayden walks out in the suit, and I was like, ‘Oh, of course, that’s why everyone is here. Everyone is here to see this moment.'”

McGregor called witnessing the Vader reveal “amazing,” adding, “I’ve never quite seen a crew react the way they reacted when [Hayden] came on set for the first time as Vader. I mean, it was like one of the greatest moments on any film set that I have ever seen.”

Director Deborah Chow previously described the collective “moment of silence” when first seeing Christensen as Vader.

“It’s really intense to have such an iconic character, and then to be directing him and to be doing new scenes with him,” Chow said. “So I do remember poor Ewan on that day, he’s like, ‘What am I, chopped liver by comparison right now?'”

McGregor, meanwhile, confessed he was scared by Vader’s strikingly sinister appearance on set. “I’m not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear,” McGregor said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.'”

And while “Obi-Wan Kenobi” will have more than “just one scene” with Vader and Kenobi duking it out, McGregor hinted at a “very strong character arc” for the Sith villain.

Chow previously added, “One of the things I was trying to do with this series was to have the legacy, and who is important in Obi-Wan’s life, and to also have some new characters. So it’s going to be a mixture of the two. But I do think there are some surprises to come, I hope.”

More on the Darth Vader reveal in “Obi-Wan Kenobi” Episode 3 here.

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