The first time we heard his name was in 1977 when Carrie Fisher said the famous line, “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” Flash forward 45 years later and the character originally made famous by Alec Guinness has a show of his own starring Ewan McGregor, who reprised his role from the prequel trilogy.
The new show will introduce us to a new villain feared almost as much as Darth Vader himself, the Grand Inquisitor. Host Jason Carr spoke to Rupert Friend, who plays this new character.
According to Friend, the Grand Inquisitor was tasked by Darth Vader to find and kill all the remaining Jedi after the Emporer has ordered the execution of all Jedi.
It takes Friend about four and a half hours to get into make-up and costume for his character. The armor he wears in the show is quite elaborate, and it takes him about an hour and a half to take everything off.
In the script, the Grand Inquisitor is described as loving the sound of his own voice, so Friend had a fun time creating a character “who is utterly deadly, lethal, and villainous, but really just liked to spout off.” He took that as a launch pad to create a character with a distinctive voice.
Jason also spoke with Joby Harrold, the Executive Producer, and Writer for the series.
When asked why he wanted to take on the pressure of telling Obi Wan’s story before A New Hope, Harrold responded that he was a massive fan, especially of the original trilogy, and was excited to be a part of it.
Harrold has a lot of respect for George Lucas as a filmmaker and tried to stay true to the characters he created.
“Obi Wan Kenobi” can be streamed on Disney+. The mini-series will be 6 episodes long.