According to Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s Ewan McGregor, working with an actual puppet Yoda on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was a harrowing experience.
During Variety‘s Actors on Actors, McGregor opened up about the process. “The first film I did, I was lucky to do my scenes with the Yoda puppet. And it was extraordinary, because I acted with him. I couldn’t believe I was acting with Yoda. There’s so many people operating him, and the stage is lifted up so they’re underneath the floor and we were literally walking next to each other — and he’s alive.”
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The difficult part, however, came after the scenes were done. “Then every time George [Lucas] called cut, Yoda would die, because everyone just stops. It was sort of disturbing every time the end of the scene would come along.” McGregor shared this memory with The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal, who also worked with a different puppet from the same unknown race as Yoda — the Child, or as he later came to be known, Grogu. In the later films for the prequels, Yoda was digitized and McGregor was spared from having to watch the Jedi Master expire after every take.
Directed by Deborah Chow, Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, Benny Safdie and Maya Erskine. The series has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: Variety
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