Ewan McGregor Wanted to Adopt ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Camel Co-Star
Samantha Bergeson
Ewan McGregor wanted to take a little bit of Tatooine home with him. After filming the upcoming Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” which premieres May 27, McGregor was tempted to welcome one animal co-star into his family.
“I really, really liked him,” McGregor told Empire about a camel named Silas, who plays Obi-Wan’s “snoot-horse” desert confidante Eopie.
“The trainer could see that I really liked the camel, and he said, ‘He’s almost finished his career. He’s 20-something years old, and we’re looking for a forever home for him,'” McGregor continued. “I was like, ‘Oh, don’t tell me that.’ I’ll come home with a camel like, ‘Hey, guys! We can have a camel in the garden can’t we?'”
Silas’ turn as Eopie also marked a first for the “Star Wars” franchise with the character being played by a real animal.
“When I deliver Luke [Skywalker] to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on Tatooine at the very end of ‘Episode III,’ I was riding a fucking blue gym horse,” McGregor said. “I had to just sit on it and pretend to be [rocks from side to side]. I had mates there – ‘It’s a big moment, come on set, we’ll watch the last [scene]…’ And there’s a blue gym horse. I’m like, ‘Are you kidding?’ I had to pretend to lope in on it, take the baby over, and then get back on the other way around.”
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” takes place between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope,” following Obi-Wan a decade after the Jedi were murdered under the Order 66 following Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) turning to the dark side as Sith Lord Darth Vader. Obi-Wan is now living in Tatooine, observing a young Luke Skywalker as the fate of the empire rests on him.
However, in real life, McGregor was more worried about how “brilliant” co-star Silas liked acting opposite him.
“I don’t know how Silas felt about me,” McGregor wondered. “I had a great trainer who called me ‘Cowboy’ all the time. ‘Come on, Cowboy!’ It’s nice for a Scottish person to be called Cowboy all day.”
And Silas no doubt was a welcome distraction from seeing Darth Vader “scare the shit” out of co-stars.
“I’m not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear,” McGregor previously said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.'”
