Hayden Christensen once tried to use the Force to beat Ewan McGregor in pool

Dalton Ross
·4 min read
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It has been a delight watching Ewan McGregor don the cloak once again for Obi-Wan Kenobi. But even more delightful than watching McGregor use the Force on the Disney+ show was hearing how he attempts to use it while visiting his local supermarket.

A few months back, McGregor admitted to EW that he has been known to do a Force wave with is fingers when approaching automatic doors. "I like to do that with automatic doors just for my own amusement," he said. "I always do a little Jedi move for the doors and I have occasionally been caught doing it. You know, like at the supermarket or something when I'm wheeling my trolley out."

For McGregor, it's just one of life's simple pleasures. "It's just always for my own, because it makes me laugh, but occasionally I've been caught doing that, and that's kind of embarrassing."

It's also adorable. And no doubt it's inspired Star Wars fans across the country to camp out at supermarkets hoping to catch a glimpse of Obi-Wan Kenobi force-waving open doors after purchasing Lucky Charms and Tostitos. But it also got us thinking: Is McGregor the only Star Wars star to attempt to use the Force in everyday life?

We went from the light side to the dark to ask McGregor's on-screen friend-turned-foe if he had ever tried such a trick, and it turns out that the man who plays Darth Vader has indeed attempted to use dark side powers in the real world. Not only that, he tried to use them against McGregor! That's right, Hayden Christensen called upon the Force in an actual battle against McGregor — a battle involving long, thin lightsaber-esque instruments… pool cues.

Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in 'Attack of the Clones'
Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in 'Attack of the Clones'

Lucasfilm LTD. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in 'Attack of the Clones'

"I remember when we were first starting on Episode II when I was first getting to play the character, I used to do that a little bit," says Christensen when told about McGregor using the Force in his off-screen life. "I remember going to a local bar with Ewan and playing pool and really trying my best to affect where the balls were going using the Force."

Hey, no fair! But before you throw penalty flags on the Dark Lord of the Sith for manipulating the trajectory of the balls with a casual wave of his hand in what was supposed to be a gentlemanly game of skill, he assures us it did not actually alter the outcome. "It never quite worked," Christensen admits. "But you can't help yourself."

While looking back on the time making Star Wars prequels, we also asked Christensen about his favorite scene from his two films, and his pick mirrors the choice of a lot of fans. "I've got a few of them," he says. "It's hard to pick just one. From Episode III, there are so many. I really like that scene that I got to do with Ian McDiarmid in the opera, where he plants the seeds of his seduction for Anakin to see the value of potentially turning to the dark side. And that was a really enjoyable one to get to film."

Hayden Christensen STAR WARS: EPISODE III-REVENGE OF THE SITH
Hayden Christensen STAR WARS: EPISODE III-REVENGE OF THE SITH

Industrial Light & Magic/TM and 20th Century-Fox Film/Courtesy Everett Collection Hayden Christensen in 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'

Speaking of looking back, Christensen previously told EW about how he not only watched all the films to prepare for going back under the black armor for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he also watched all of animated offerings The Clone Wars and Rebels. In our latest conversation, we asked the actor how those series fleshed out his character.

"I really enjoyed what they did with the character in The Clone Wars," says Christensen. I think Dave Filoni's storytelling in that series is really remarkable, and Matt Lanter does a great job voicing the character. There's lots of great stuff there to unpack. And I think as the series continues, it just gets better and better. And that last season is really great."

So where's is the character now as we pick up halfway between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope for Obi-Wan Kenobi? Is he consumed being dark side power mad, or does he feel trapped by all the machinery surrounding him? "It's definitely a combination of both of those," says Christensen." It's different, but also the same. We didn't want to deviate too much from what we already know. But also, this is a different time in his life, and he's very much consumed by all of his negative emotions. And all of that fuels his dark side abilities. We're just going to have to watch and find out."

While we worried how Darth Vader would react to being named the number two Star Wars character ever — with Princess Leia taking the top spot — the dark lord did not attempt to force choke us, and surprisingly took his ranking in stride: "We'll let Princess Leia take the cake, I guess. But number two, that's not bad either."

Unless you are playing pool against Ewan McGregor, apparently.

Listen to interviews with Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend and more on EW's new Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.

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