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‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ actors fought their on-set lightsaber battles to John Williams tunes, as you should
The only downside was the music drowned out any lightsaber sounds they actors might have made.
You can’t talk about Star Wars without talking about John Williams. The legendary composer has scored the lion's share of the music in the sci-fi franchise, including Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi, and one can’t help but feel some feelings when hearing his work.
In a press conference attended by SYFY WIRE, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow revealed that to get folks in the mood, they played John Williams’ music during fight scenes on set.
Chow shared this information when stars Ewan McGregor and Moses Ingram were asked whether they made any lightsaber noises when fighting. McGregor admitted to it (he also pretends to use the Force to open automatic doors), and Chow added they played John Williams’ music during action scenes, which would have drowned out any sounds the actors may have made.
Why did they play John Williams’ score during these moments? We’ve all heard his music, so Ingram’s answer wasn’t surprising. “We'd be stepping off the ship or doing something else and the music was swelling, and you just feel like you're 10 feet tall,” she said.
Chow replied that Ingram’s response was why they did it: “The music, obviously, it brings the emotional component. And what John Williams has done has been so inextricably tied — it is Star Wars. So if we put it on, all of the sudden I see Moses get two inches taller … everybody responds to it.”
You can hear John Williams yourself when the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere on Disney+ on Friday, May 27.
Looking for more sci-fi TV? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock. Looking ahead, SYFY has new series The Ark in the works from original Stargate film writer/producer Dean Devlin and Stargate SG-1 producer Jonathan Glassner.
