Here's Who's Playing The Young Luke Skywalker In Obi-Wan Kenobi
A long time ago, on a studio lot far, far away ... "Obi-Wan Kenobi" was going to be much more like "The Mandalorian," with a young Luke Skywalker switched out for Grogu, the artist alien formerly known as Baby Yoda. Ewan McGregor's title character, the Jedi master Obi-Wan, would have been protecting young Luke in a more "Lone Wolf and Cub"-like plot. We already heard that the scripts for "Obi-Wan Kenobi," the upcoming 6-episode Disney+ series, were scrapped for being too dark, but apparently, one byproduct of retooling the series was that its creators decided to go a different direction with the Muppet Baby version of Luke and recast the role with a different child actor.
Imagine being a kid, cast as Luke Skywalker in the new "Star Wars" TV show, then being handed your walking papers with a shadow hanging over you like the one dogging Jake Lloyd in the first movie poster for "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." That's what happened to some poor kid with "Obi-Wan Kenobi." The Hollywood Reporter doesn't specify who was cast as the first Luke in "Obi-Wan Kenobi," but the trade now indicates that the new Luke is Grant Feely.
Feely's sole IMDb credit is an episode of the Shudder series, "Creepshow." He played Timmy in the first segment of "Time Out/The Things in Oakwood's Past." There's not much to go on here, but there you have it: Grant Feely is your new Luke Skywalker.
Other actors besides Hamill have already played Luke
A version of Luke Skywalker, age-appropriate to his life after "Return of the Jedi," recently rose from the uncanny valley to appear in "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett." Several actors including Mark Hamill, the original Luke Skywalker, participated in bringing Luke to life again for these two Disney+ shows. Hamill was on the set of "The Mandalorian," and obviously his likeness was used, but his body double for that appearance was Max Lloyd-Jones. In "The Book of Boba Fett," Graham Hamilton served as his body double and Scott Lang (not to be confused with Paul Rudd's "Ant-Man" character) served as his stunt double. Meanwhile, Luke's voice was reportedly synthesized through an application called Respeecher, which means that "from a certain point of view," as Obi-Wan would say, A.I. has also helped play Luke.
Some people have said that instead of pouring all this money into a ghoulish digital recreation of Luke, Lucasfilm should have just recast the role with Sebastian Stan, who does bear a resemblance to Hamill circa the 1980s. Hamill himself even responded to this in the media.
One thing is clear: like Darth Vader, it takes an Ewok village to play Luke Skywalker, and now you can add Grant Feely to the list of actors involved in portraying him during the Disney era of "Star Wars."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi" hits Disney+ on May 25, 2022.