Disney+ OBI-WAN KENOBI Series Will Feature Super-Fans as Background Actors
Star Wars fans are looking forward to the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series that is heading to Disney+ in the coming year. The series will star Ewan McGregor, returning as Kenobi, as well as Hayden Christiansen, returning to play Darth Vader, and Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse returning to play Owen and Beru Lars, respectively. New cast members include Maya Erskine, Rupert Friend, Benny Safdie, Kumail Nanjiani, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Moses Ingram, and Simone Kessell. We can also expect to see some major Star Wars fans onscreen as well.
In a recent interview with Variety, Pen15 co-creator and co-star Maya Erskine, who will appear in the Star Wars spinoff explained, “The extras were incredible on the set, and a lot of them were mega Star Wars fans.” Her Pen15 partner Anna Konkle went on to add, “One guy, he was so nice and he lifted up his sleeves and had Star Wars tattoos over his whole body. And they build droids. There are lot of Star Wars fans that build droids, and then the production companies will rent [them] from the fans.”
The report says Erskine shot what she calls her “speck” of a role shortly after giving birth to her son, with her fiancé, This Is Us actor Michael Angarano. “I got to bring my baby to set,” she says. “I wanted to wrap him in a shawl and have him pass as an extra in Star Wars.”
Erskine jokes that she’s getting an Obi-Wan Kenobi tattoo: “It’s on my ass.”
Of course, she has to be tight-lipped about her part on the show, but says, “Deborah Chow is an amazing director. The cast was incredible. It was so fun to do,” adding, “My brother, who’s a mega fan, was like, ‘If you don’t take this, I will disown you. You have to be part of this universe.’”
It’s awesome that the people in charge of creating Star Wars these days are utilizing the huge fanbase, and their talents and passion for the universe and all its properties. It will be fun to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi, and know that everyone involved is passionate about the project.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to hit Disney+ in 2022.