Obi Wan Kenobi Hated Star Wars
Jedi Master Actor Resented Being Attached to Star Wars
British actor Alec Guiness played Obi Wan Kenobi three times in the Star Wars films. He's known to devout fans of George Lucas's films as the wise trainer of Luke Skywalker in mastering the force. His performance was so good, it dodged him for the rest of his career. Despite having an impressive resume as an actor before he donned Jedi robes, Guiness is best known as the bearded mentor to Luke Skywalker.
Guiness called the box office success of Star Wars better than perhaps anyone else connected with it. Most had no faith in what they were producing. He negotiated two percent of the movie's gross, which brought him great wealth for the rest of his life. In spite of the financial rewards, this attachment to the science fiction films greatly disturbed him. Apparently Guiness couldn't deal with being seen and identified with Star Wars by the great majority of moviegoers.
What did the mature Jedi master who Darth Vader struck down dead in Star Wars think about the movies? Guiness held nothing back in an interview in Talk magazine. "I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo," he told interviewer Fintan O'Toole.
What about Star Wars fans? He felt the sometime obsessive interest in them from fans was destructive and silly. An incident concerning a fan and his autograph illustrates just how much the actor hated Star Wars.
An account in his autobiography, A Positively Final Appearance, relates how he gave an autograph to a young fan, but with a string attached. After the fan told him he watched the movie over a hundred times, Guiness said he'd only grant the autograph if the young admirer stopped watching the movie. He bluntly told the fan, "This is going to be an ill effect on your life." Supposedly the shocked fan resisted at first, but then afterwards thanked the stern Guiness.
It became so difficult for Alec Guiness to face his starry place in pop culture and mainstream cinema, that it's said he threw away Star Wars fan mail unread. Fans may be put off or even angered by his less than stellar attitude about Star Wars, but they should remember this.
It's never been proven he ever trashed his Star Wars royalty checks.
Published by Will Stape
Will is an Emmy Award nominated screenwriter. He also writes extensively for magazines and the web. Will penned episodes for the TV shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" & "Deep Space Nine." In 2010... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentI read somewhere he only accepted the roll after he found out another British actor was in it.
Anthony Daniels.
That's not what made him famous. He was already a highly esteemed actor -- Lucas, an unknown, was very lucky to get him.
I'm a fan of Star Wars, but I can certainly understand why he would have been uncomfortable with the reactions from the fans/press who DOGGED him, not dodged.
Interestingly enough, I read somewhere that Ewan McGregor feels the same way about having been Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Prequels. If I remember the anecdote correctly, he was quoted as saying that he can tell when a Star Wars fan recognizes him on the street and that he avoids any questions about having worked in the Star Wars films.
It's sad he didn't like being in "Star Wars" cause that's what made him famous. Great article, Will.
Guiness had done so much classical acting that I'm surprised he took on the role to begin with. I always wondered if he was more concerned with how obsessed the fans were or with how the films affected his long-standing classical career.
Kenobi rocked - sad his "creator" didn't....
Very interesting but I guess it happened far too often.
Interesting no doubt - and what a fine actor.
An interesting article. I wasn't aware that Mr. Guiness feared the George Reeves Syndrome.