Ewan McGregor Wants to Jump Back Into 'Star Wars'

While the main series moves forward past Return of the Jedi with this winter’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm’s anthology movies are free to tell stories set at any point in the franchise’s mythology — something that comes as good news to Ewan McGregor, who wants to return to his prequel role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“I’d be happy to do the story from episodes three where I finish up and Alec Guinness [who played the older Kenobi in the original Star Wars movies] starts,” the actor said during an appearance at the Edinburgh Film Fest in Scotland this weekend.

It was Star Wars, McGregor explained, that made him want to be an actor for the first time, thanks to seeing his uncle Denis Lawson in the original installment. “I remember going to see him in Star Wars in my shorts and red socks when my mum picked us up from school,” he recalled. “I was six and it blew my brains out and that was it. I remember saying of Denis when I was nine I want to be an actor.”

He’s excited about seeing The Force Awakens when it’s released, he added. “It’s not a fanatical thing. I’m really pleased I’m part of the legacy of it and happy to see it and I’ve seen the trailer and it looks like they’ve absolutely nailed it.”

Star Wars wasn’t the only return McGregor talked about during his appearance; he also talked about a potential sequel to 1996’s Trainspotting, saying that although there was no script, he’s met with director Danny Boyle, and that “it would make sense for the sequel to be made in 2016, the 20th anniversary of the original.” Well, unless MacGregor’s busy making a standalone Obi-Wan Star Wars movie, of course…

Watch an ‘In Memoriam’ video for Jar Jar Binks below: