The fans were hoping he'd return.Disney+ had a massive hit on its hands with the Ewan McGregor-led series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The show saw several fan favorite stars from the Star Wars prequel films reprise their roles like Hayden Christensen, who returned as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Of course, fans were also excited to see a surprise cameo from Liam Neeson, who reprised his role as Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn. During the course of his career, Neeson hasn't dabbled in TV much, so why did he make an exception for McGregor's show despite being a "TV snob?
Liam Neeson recently appeared at the San Sebastian Film Festival (via ComicBookMovie.com), where he was promoting his latest film, Marlowe. During the event, Neeson was asked about his long-awaited return to the Star Wars franchise, and his reasoning for returning to the fold was honest and very straightforward. The Phantom Menace actor revealed:
I was in the last episode, I’m a bit of a TV snob, but I didn’t want anyone else to play that character. Ewan is a friend. We were in Los Angeles on green screen and Ewan, as Obi-Wan, was on a real camel, and I only had three lines of dialogue, and when we rehearsed, people started crying, it was wonderful.
So it would seem that the 70-year-old actor simply didn't want anyone else playing the role. One can understand his feelings though, had he been unavailable, I doubt Disney and Lucasfilm would've tapped another actor for the job. (Though they could've found a way to insert him digitally.) While his appearance was brief, it certainly resonated with a number of viewers and, based on the actor's comments, the crew was moved by his moment with Ewan McGregor as well.
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