Heartwarming Star Wars Reunion Between Ewan McGregor And Hayden Christensen
While the Star Wars prequels were a mixed bag, a highlight of the latter two films was the relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, acted to perfection by Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. Ever since the middle-of-the-road Obi-Wan Kenobi show on Disney+, fans have been hungry for another onscreen reunion between master and apprentice. Recently, though, the most heartwarming reunion happened offscreen, with Christensen attending McGregor’s Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony and telling the tale of when they first met.
Their First Meeting
Originally, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen didn’t meet until Attack of the Clones, and the younger man told a touching story about that first meeting.
“Before I can even put eyes on him, I hear his voice,” Christensen said. “He exclaims my name with more enthusiasm than I think I’d ever heard it spoken with before.”
This already set a warm tone for their meeting, and things got even warmer once Christensen laid eyes on the older actor: “I turn and I see him, and then he’s coming at me, and he just gives me the biggest hug…just the most disarmingly warm embrace.”
Reminiscing
Obviously, Ewan McGregor was very enthusiastic about meeting his costar, and Hayden Christensen quickly realized that the other man’s enthusiasm went far beyond simple professional courtesy.
“It was immediately apparent to me that I was meeting someone truly special,” he said. “Not just as an actor, but as a person, and that I was meeting a friend.”
At this point, the Anakin Skywalker actor decided to add a little levity to Ewan McGregor’s induction ceremony.
“A friend who would later go on to chop off both my legs and leave me for dead on the side of a volcano, but I guess I kind of had that coming,” Hayden Christensen quipped.
This was enough to make McGregor burst into laughter, but afterward, his costar got more serious describing what it was like to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi come to life.
Christensen Idolized McGregor
In Christensen’s words, watching Ewan McGregor act was “like watching…the best kind of magic–not the kind that involves any trickery or sleight of hand, but the kind that really makes you believe in something bigger.”
In big-budget films filled with all manner of CGI wizardry, McGregor was refreshingly authentic: “he wasn’t just playing Obi-Wan, he was Obi-Wan.” Hayden Christensen went on to echo countless fans, noting that we need more of Obi-Wan in this galaxy far, far away “because this man is just Star Wars gold.”
Continuing to lay on the praise of Ewan McGregor, he said that his costar “brought all of the sort of qualities that we knew about the character” from the legendary performance of the late Sir Alec Guinness while still “imbuing the role with his own depth and emotion.”
Hayden Christensen noted that “I was just in awe the entire time,” which is certainly a fair response to McGregor’s iconic acting throughout the prequels.
Two Old Friends
If you weren’t already tearing up a bit, his concluding remarks about Ewan McGregor might be enough to make you cry. “My friend Ewan, I want to thank you for being the best Jedi Master that anyone could have ever hoped for,” Hayden Christensen said.
He noted that “I’m just so happy to get to be here with you right now” and that it was “an honor and a thrill to get to work with you, and swing a lightsaber with you, and more than all of it, call you my friend.”
He summed up his thoughts about Ewan McGregor in four sweet words: “I love you, brother.” In turn, the Obi-Wan actor was equally effusive in his praise of Hayden Christensen, describing how “We’ve grown up in this crazy world together over these last however many years” and that “I love you so much.”
For as fiercely as these two fought in Revenge of the Sith, it’s clear that working together on the Star Wars prequels only brought them closer over the years.
Close To Leia
While Ewan McGregor mostly focused on returning the heartwarming affection that he received from Hayden Christensen, he also took the opportunity to remember another one of the franchise greats.
Noticing that his own star on the Walk of Fame was very close to Leia actor Carrie Fisher’s, he said that he was “so moved” to be “close to my old friend Carrie Fisher…that means a great deal to me.”
Hearing these two actors speak so candidly about their love for one another, it’s clear why these two were the beating heart of the Star Wars prequels. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen share an unbreakable bond, and their mutual respect and admiration show through in each of their performances.
And we’re definitely with Christensen in that we simply can’t wait for McGregor to return to this epic sci-fi franchise.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
