Movies - TV
How George Lucas Stopped Alec Guinness From Quitting Star Wars
By JENNA BUSCH
While Obi-Wan Kenobi was far from his usual role, Sir Alec Guinness had said positive things about “Star Wars.” However, there was one plot point he didn’t particularly like.
Guinness hated the idea of becoming a Force ghost so much so that he almost quit the film. Luckily, creator George Lucas convinced the actor to stay on during a lunch meeting.
Lucas shared, “He was terribly upset. He was ready to walk off the picture — he said, ‘I’m not doing this.’ He didn’t like the idea of being a ghost.”
He continued, “That’s the part he really didn’t like, the idea of giving yourself up willingly to join the Force. So I had to convince him to come back on the picture.”
Lucas explained his reasoning as to why Obi-Wan needed to die in his battle with Darth Vader, saying his character wouldn’t have a reason for being in the last part of the film.
The director said he “wanted his character to have an impact” rather than just be present with nothing to do, to which Guinness admitted, “You’re right. This is much better.”
Lucas added, “He started to think about what he was going to have to be doing and how it would’ve been embarrassing to simply be standing around without much purpose.”