Ewan McGregor is opening up about his return to Star Wars after almost 15 years in Men’s Journal’s cover story this November. Ewan, 48, will reprise his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in a new series for Disney+. He last portrayed the Jedi Master in Revenge Of The Sith in 2005.
The Scottish actor opened up to the mag about rejoining the legendary franchise. “It’s a f**king massive relief,” he said about being able to tell people he’s doing Star Wars again. “Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.”
Fans will have to wait before they see Ewan with a lightsaber again, since the series doesn’t start filming until next year. But he did give Men’s Journal come exciting tidbits about the project. “The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV,” he admitted. The series doesn’t have a title yet and will be directed by Deborah Chow.
On November 8, Ewan will hit the big screen in Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. Ewan plays the grown-up son of Jack Nicholson’s character in the original film who’s dealing with demons of his own.
“I’ve been sober for years,” he told the mag. “This was the first time I got to explore that in my work.”
“What intrigued me was the fact that when we meet Dan, he’s like a rock-bottom alcoholic, and then finds recovery,” he explained. The new film takes place 20 years after the original flick.
Ewan opened up about how he decided to get sober. “The rock bottom’s neither here nor there, really. It also wasn’t as hectic as some other people’s. But it’s not a competition. I was just not able to manage all the different strands of my life—my professional life, my family life, and my drinking life,” he explained.
“So something had to go. But it was fun to go back and play some real f**ked-up drunk scenes. It was quite funny. But it was all still frighteningly alive in me, you know, even after 20 years,” he said.
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