Ewan McGregor Offered An Impassioned Speech Defending The ‘Star Wars’ Prequels

Hello there! I have the high ground, etc etc. With the Star Wars prequel trilogy nearly two decades behind us (time is a flat circle etc etc), it’s now time to show them some respect despite their glaring flaws.

While doing press for the upcoming Disney+ original series Obi-Wan Kenobi which hits the streaming platform in the US on May 27, Ewan McGregor delivered a passionate, emotional monologue about the critically panned prequels and talked about how the younger generation’s fondness for the films has improved his relationship with the franchise. In the clip which made the rounds on Twitter dot com, Ewan delivers the following nearly two-minute speech to a reporter who says they love the prequels:

I guess you were a kid when our films came out. So we sort of made them for you. It was an odd experience to make those movies. When you step into this world, it’s a big deal. It’s scary. And then those films were critically not liked very much, or they weren’t written very nicely about by the critics. What we didn’t hear at the time was people your age. We meet people now who really love our films, but it’s taken us, like, fifteen years to hear that. It’s so nice. It’s really nice, and it’s changed my outlook on my relationship with <em>Star Wars</em> because of that, I think. We put our heart and soul into them and they were difficult to make because the second one, the third one, there was so much green screen and blue screen because George [Lucas] was pushing into this new realm that he had designed that he was for. He wanted to max out that technology. But that meant for us that we were very much on green screens and blue screens, and it was hard work. And to do that and be passionate about it and then for the films to not be very well-received was really tough. It’s really lovely to have this new relationship with them now and watching them again. I hadn’t seen them since they came out, in preparation for this show. To watch them again was really cool. I like them, you know? I like them. Episode 3 is a really good movie.

Co-star Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker in the prequels and will return in Obi-Wan Kenobi added to the enthusiasm for Revenge of the Sith. “It’s a phenomenal film,” he said. “Nonstop action.” So what I think Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen are trying to say is that they stan General Greivous.