In May of ‘77, STAR WARS hit theaters, with young Luke Skywalker hearing about his father from old Obi-Wan Kenobi — and, in May of ‘05, REVENGE OF THE SITH hit theaters, with Luke getting born right in front of Obi-Wan, what, 19 years before the events of the original film?
So — are we, pretty much, like, there, yet? Is this, at last, the month when Ewan McGregor now should look pretty much like Alec Guinness then? And so on, and so on?
Ewan hasn’t spent two decades living in a desert. You have any idea how hard it is to get your hands on a good facial moisturizer on Tattooine?
And even if he had, it would’ve only been under the one sun!
It’s all about the sunscreen there.
But I meant what I said about the “and so on”; it’s not just about whether McGregor is an old fossil, it’s that — well, if you saw SITH when it first came out, the time from that month to this one is the time it took for that baby to grow up and blow up the Death Star, and for guys in their thirties to dismissively talk like the Jedi and the Force are the stuff of superstition — and if you happen to see Hayden Christensen today, well, that’s how old Darth Vader is supposed to be.
When does this happen in the movie? Now. You’re looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now.
Canonically Ben Kenobi is 57 years old in the first Star Wars. Whereas Ewan McGregor is currently 53. So there’s still time for him to suddenly go grey and grizzled.
But Alec Guinness was actually 63. And not living in the desert, Tattooine or Tunisia.
I just saw a scene from Star Wars featuring Alec Guiness and my first thought was, “He doesn’t look as old as I remember.” I think that’s just a sign that I’m getting older.
You should see how Dumbledore aged from Fantastic Beasts until the moment he picked Tom Riddle up at the orphanage.
Of course, if you’re Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom, or Jon de Lancie, you’ve got the opposite problem in that you’re growing older while your character is immortal.