One of the soon-to-be biggest actors in Hollywood is Kumail Nanjiani. The star is set to have a leading role in Marvel Studios' upcoming Eternals, where he plays one of the members of the Eternals family. He got so excited about the role that Marvel had to call him to tell him to stop working too hard on his superhero physique.
After his Marvel stint, fans will see the actor in a different universe: Star Wars. Back in March, it was officially revealed that he had signed on to play an unnamed character in Ewan Mcgregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi, While being in a galaxy far far away is a big deal, getting to play a key part in one of that franchise's most anticipated projects is on a whole different level.
Nanjiani wasn't immune to this excitement, as apparently, the actor is just as much of a fan as a lot of people out there in the world. In fact, it's something the actor had to face more than one time while filming the upcoming Disney+ show.
Kumail Nanjiani Teases McGregor's Obi-Wan
In a conversation with Rolling Stone, Eternals actor and Obi-Win Kenobi newcomer Kumail Nanjiani teased his experience working with the famous Ewan McGregor actor in his first solo outing in the franchise.
The actor revealed that there "was there was this weird moment," where one second he was talking to McGregor, and the next he was "talking to... Obi-Wan Kenobi:"
"I had this moment. I’d heard Ewan [McGregor] was supernice. And then we got to know each other a little bit, just hanging out and talking. Then there was this weird moment where I’m talking to Ewan and they yell 'Action,' and he’d started talking to me, and I was like, 'Oh, I’m talking to Obi-Wan right now. This is not Ewan McGregor. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi that I’m talking to.' My character is supposed to be a little bit intimidated by him, and I was a little bit intimidated. You know, it’s fucking Obi-Wan, what are you gonna do?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to utilize the same Volume display technology that The Mandalorian uses for its soundstages. This results in fewer green/blue screens, better-looking effects, and a more immersive setting for the actors bringing it all to life.
Nanjiani exclaimed that "the only thing that was real in the whole was the desk [he] was sitting at:"
"You really feel like you’re there. The first scene we shot, it was Star Wars outside the windows, with aliens walking around and ships flying by and all this stuff, but the rest of it just looked like a warehouse. So I did a couple of takes and then Ewan was like, 'You know, none of this is real.' I knew the windows weren’t real, but the walls weren’t either! I looked and I was like, 'Wow, the walls are projected.' The only thing that was real in the whole room was the desk I was sitting at. It was wild. It was really, really exciting."
The actor continued, gushing about how much he "[love[s] shooting like that," saying "it really feels like you're in a spaceship flying through space:"
"I love shooting like that, because you don’t have to pretend that you’re on a spaceship flying through space. It really feels like you’re in a spaceship flying through space. And it’s amazing to be inside the world of Star Wars, the world that I’ve been watching since I was born. I’ve been a fan as long as I can remember. In fact, I just went to Disneyland, and I went to the Star Wars world, and I was like, 'Oh, this kinda feels like being at work.'”
Intimidated by Obi-Wan and the Star Wars Sets
It's always fun to hear about actors just as excited in their positions as fans would be. It's something that really translates onto the screen, and makes everything that much better.
In his conversation with Rolling Stone, the actor revealed some interesting little tidbits. The first of which is that, clearly, he is going to share scenes in a spaceship with Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan at some point which could allude to a lot more traveling for the former Jedi than many might have expected.
He also mentions sitting at a desk. Could he be at some sort of intake, where the Jedi is being taken into custody? Perhaps as a plot on Obi-Wan's part? Or maybe Nanjiani is going to be able to bring that fanboy aspect into the show by being a more normal civilian who gets caught up in everything.
Currently, there's no known date for Obi-Wan Kenobi's premiere on Disney+ but fans can expect to see it sometime later next year.
