When Toronto filmmaker Deborah Chow signed on to direct all six episodes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” she had some exciting ideas about where to take the Star Wars universe.
One of the most crucial was convincing Hayden Christensen to return to the dark side as Darth Vader.
It’s been over 15 years since the Canadian actor starred as Anakin Skywalker and his villainous alter ego. With actor Ewan McGregor already attached to revisit the titular Kenobi, Chow couldn’t see anyone else on the other side of the ultimate showdown.
“It really had to be Hayden,” she explained as the series released its final episode Wednesday on Disney Plus.
So a few years ago, after directing two episodes of the first “Star Wars” television series “The Mandalorian,” Chow hopped in a car and drove to Christensen’s farm in Uxbridge, Ontario, ready to explain his vision.
But she quickly learned that Christensen was eager to explore how Vader evolved in the decade-long gap between ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’ and the fully formed villain the late actor David Prowse portrayed in the film. 1977 original “Star Wars: A New Hope.”
“He’s a character that really stuck with me over the years, and that I kept thinking about,” Christensen said.
“It didn’t really take a lot of convincing.”
When the series began pre-production, the actor dove back into the role, bulking up to fill out Vader’s signature black armor, undergoing rigorous physical training, and learning about the lightsaber through choreography lessons.
“We had a Vader movement specialist who made sure we were all in line with continuity,” he said.
Since “Obi-Wan Kenobi” features a younger Vader, Christensen said he made conscious choices that injected a “youth” into his movements.
“(I was) trying to give some pointers to Anakin,” he said. “It’s Vader at another point in his life.”
Beyond his marquee villain, Chow introduced several new characters whose stories and fates weren’t already determined by the existing “Star Wars” canon.
The biggest role is the Imperial Inquisitor, played by actress Moses Ingram, who joins Vader in hunting down the Jedi.
The role initially garnered positive attention as one of the few black characters in the franchise, but then the celebration of the portrayal took on a sour note when it brought to mind the racism that exists in some corners of the world. fan base.
Several weeks ago, Ingram went public on social media to address the “hundreds” of hateful comments she received after the show premiered in May. Her original post said she wouldn’t be intimidated, but wanted to shed some light on her experience and make it clear that she refused to “smile and bear it.”
Her co-star McGregor quickly stepped up to support the Emmy-nominated actress in the days that followed, posting a video calling her a “brilliant actress” and calling out the hate.
“It broke our hearts all to see this happen,” Chow said, “especially because Moses is an amazing actor and we love him as a human being too.”
Chow added that online hate directed at media portrayal is “something that a lot of shows… face.”
“To me, ‘Star Wars’ has always felt like a very inclusive galaxy,” she said.
“It has all walks of life. It has all the different planets. So it seems very natural to have diversity within the galaxy.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 22, 2022.
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