# Star Wars: 19 years from then to now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 1, 2024, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994 "2024-05-01T04:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/1 "2024-05-01T04:15:19Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/2 "2024-05-01T04:40:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Is this, at last, the month when Ewan McGregor _now_ should look pretty much like Alec Guinness _then?_ 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? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/3 "2024-05-01T04:42:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Ewan hasn’t spent two decades living in a desert. And even if he _had,_ it would’ve only been under the one sun! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/4 "2024-05-01T04:44:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 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? It’s all about the sunscreen there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/5 "2024-05-02T00:06:48Z")
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._ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/6 "2024-05-02T03:30:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/7 "2024-05-02T17:45:14Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Canonically Ben Kenobi is 57 years old in the first Star Wars. But Alec Guinness was actually 63. And not living in the desert, Tattooine or Tunisia. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/8 "2024-05-02T17:49:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/9 "2024-05-02T22:40:23Z")
You should see how Dumbledore aged from Fantastic Beasts until the moment he picked Tom Riddle up at the orphanage. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-19-years-from-then-to-now/1000994/10 "2024-05-03T00:46:21Z")
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.