Reva's Force Powers In Obi-Wan Kenobi Did Real Damage To Kumail Nanjiani
So many of us have pretended to be Jedi over the years. We took up that stick or empty wrapping paper roll and wielded it like a lightsaber on the playground as kids. We used our hands to pretend our Force powers opened that automatic door (some of us did that just yesterday). In the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Kumail Nanjiani got to pretend to be a Jedi in a world in which they actually exist.
Nanjiani played the role of Haja Estree, a con man who pretends to be a Jedi, using tricks and subterfuge to convince people that he is one with the Force in exchange for credits. Underhanded it may be, but hey, after the Empire took over, the dark times were pretty dark. People did what they had to do, and in the end, Haja was a hero, despite his Force powers being fake.
In the Disney+ special "Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return," Nanjiani talked about getting to play this character, what he did to prepare, and how a run-in with Reva Sevander/Third Sister (Moses Ingram) was a bit rougher than he expected it to be.
'I got Force-pushed into a wall'
If you recall, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) hears about someone who might be a Jedi that can help him, but Haja is who he finds. At one point, Reva uses her own Force powers (she was a child being trained to be a Jedi when the purge happened) to slam Haja against a wall. The Disney+ special shows that moment, and oof, it looks like it hurt. Nanjiani said:
"I got Force-pushed into a wall much harder than I thought I was going to. I'm very padded up and it was awesome, but also, I forget what day it is. It's just really fun to play a guy who's pretending to be a Jedi. I re-watched all the 'Star Wars' in preparation for it. And then I was like, okay, this is probably all this guy knows, so his Force-gestures and the way he conducts himself as a Jedi, it's very theatrical. Because the people he's dealing with also probably haven't run into Jedi, so it's just his version of it."
First, that sounds painful. Second, he's got a really good point about most people not ever meeting with a Jedi in their lives. It's one of the things we often forget about in the "Star Wars" universe. Certainly the original films and the prequels didn't really focus on what the average person in the galaxy far, far away experienced. It's really only with some of the Disney+ shows that we see what it's like for someone who is just trying to live their life without interference. Jedi would likely be nothing more than a legend to them. It's pretty cool to see what an average person thought one might be like.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi" and all the "Star Wars" shows and films are currently streaming on Disney+.