For 25 years, actor Ewan McGregor has portrayed the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. On Thursday morning, McGregor was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This star is number 2,789 in the category of Motion Pictures. It also is just steps away from the late Carrie Fisher’s star.
“The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is excited to honor Ewan McGregor in celebration of his exceptional career and accomplishments with this dedication ceremony,” said Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez. “His portrayal of iconic characters has left a lasting impact on fans worldwide.”
The ceremony for this Hollywood Star on Hollywood Boulevard began with a speech by writer-director Mike Mills. Mills worked with McGregor on the film Beginners. The movie was a personal project and Mills spoke about McGregor’s support during the production and his willingness to put everything into the role.
“With this little look, he said [to me], ‘I am a very curious person. I’m game. I want to do what I’ve never done before, and I’m up for it,’” Mills said of McGregor’s attitude during the project. “I feel like that’s in all of his performances. You get the sense that this is someone who loves it and is up for it.”
Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin to McGregor’s Obi-Wan, was also on hand during the ceremony. He spoke about his college, collaborator, lifelong friend, and man he considers a brother.
“Ewan McGregor is one of our great actors,” began Christensen, “and, in my opinion, the coolest person on the planet.”
Christensen shared about his first time meeting McGregor during Star Wars Episode II: The Attack of the Clones. Christensen shared about how he was already a fan of McGregor and how he was excited to meet the actor when production started in Australia. He wasn’t disappointed.
“It was immediately apparent to me that I was meeting someone truly special, and not just as an actor, but as a person. I was meeting a friend. A friend who would later go on to chop off both my legs and leave me for dead on the side of a volcano,” Christensen joked.
“To watch him embody this character, it’s like watching magic… the kind that really makes you believe in something bigger. He wasn’t just playing Obi-Wan. He was Obi-Wan. He is Obi-Wan.”
“I want to thank you for being the best Jedi Master that anyone could have ever hoped for… I love you, brother.”
During his acceptance speech, McGregor thanks his fans and friends. “I’m so moved that I’m close to my old friend Carrie Fisher on the pavement here. That means a great deal to me,” he said.
“I’m so blessed to be able to live a creative life,” he told the gathered crowd. “I get to create stories with all these amazingly creative people.
“We all come together and we exercise our creativity as a group to make something that’s capable of changing the world. We make something that makes people feel, and makes people think, and therefore can make people change. I think that’s the most amazing privilege to do that.”
