Latest / Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast / Episode 146: Part 3 of "The Obi-Wan Actors" - James Arnold Taylor brings Obi-Wan to Life through His Amazing Voice Acting in The Clone Wars

Transcript

Episode 146: Part 3 of "The Obi-Wan Actors" - James Arnold Taylor brings Obi-Wan to Life through His Amazing Voice Acting in The Clone Wars · Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast

• 0:00
  It's Most Things Kenobi, an elegant podcast for a more
• 0:04
  civilized fandom. Hmm. Hello everyone, welcome to
• 0:21
  another episode of Most Things Kenobi, a podcast
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  about Obi -Wan Kenobi and all things Star Wars. I'm
• 0:27
  your host, Leanne. And I'm your host, Lauren. And
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  this week we get to talk about our friend. Yes.
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  We're covering the Obi -Wan's and we've already
• 0:41
  done Alec Yenis. Last week we did Ewan McGregor
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  and this week is James Arnold Taylor, a very, very
• 0:49
  good friend of the show. Yes.
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  And honestly, my personal favorite Obi -Wan, but it's
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  just me. We're not supposed to have
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  favorites, but yeah. I know, but I do. You
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  know what? The depth of the character of
• 1:09
  Obi -Wan, we can say, has come from James Arnold
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  Taylor's animated portrayal. Yeah.
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  The portrayal of Obi -Wan Kenobi as an animated
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  character via the voice of James Arnold Taylor. Yeah.
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  Who tried to mimic Ewan, who tried to mimic Alec
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  Yenis. So it's like six degrees from
• 1:31
  Alec Yenis and we're at three, two or three. Yeah.
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  It like gets more and more complicated and more actors
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  who play. Right. Right. And
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  I mean, the voice you hear at the beginning of every
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  single one of our episodes since episode one is the
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  lovely and talented James Arnold Taylor, who obviously
• 1:53
  voices Obi -Wan Kenobi. In the Clone Wars show, if
• 1:56
  you don't, if you haven't, if you've been living under
• 2:00
  a rock and you have no idea. Yeah,
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  right. And you've never watched Clone
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  Wars or played the. Yeah. Yeah. If
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  you haven't watched Clone Wars really get on that
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  because you're really missing out if you haven't.
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  Yeah. So this week's all about
• 2:18
  James and what he brings to the table as Obi -Wan,
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  which is a plethora. Yeah. Of things. He's
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  been playing the character the longest, like 21 years
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  or something like that, which is just. It's
• 2:34
  just crazy to me that Revenge of the Sith came
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  out that long ago. Yeah, we don't need to date
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  ourselves, but here we are doing it. I
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  remember seeing it in the theaters and then along
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  came Clone Wars and I remember seeing like the
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  poster that they would hang out. Yes.
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  Outside. Yes. And in my brain, I thought
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  they can't make that animated, can they? Me
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  too. Oh my gosh, I have the same
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  reaction. I remember distinctly seeing
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  the poster in the mall by my house. Yeah.
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  And being like, oh, that's stupid. Like
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  how I just thought, how are they going to do that?
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  Because. Yeah. My,
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  my original vision of animated stuff was like
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  Disney. Yeah. The typical Disney film, I
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  should say. And Pixar had come out with
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  some, some animated, so it was getting good by the
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  time. Yeah. Like the late 2000s, mid
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  to late 2000s rolled around. And
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  well, then once I saw it, I was kind of hooked in
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  the TV show and everything and then rewatching it and
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  the behind the scenes and you just fall in love with
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  this whole extra group of family. It's
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  a family. Ashley. Yeah. James
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  and Matt, I consider the Filoni family. And
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  they have brought life to my favorite characters,
• 4:02
  Anakin and Obi -Wan more so than anyone. And
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  like you said, they've just been, James had been doing,
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  had been doing Obi -Wan's voice for as long as, as
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  long as I've been out of college. Which
• 4:19
  is really shitty. I know. I
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  was like, if it was 21 years ago, I had just
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  started college. Like I was probably my sophomore
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  year, maybe. I'm not quite sure my math is
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  a little off, but I was very much an original
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  trilogy person. Me too. Didn't
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  love the prequels, but I thought Revenge of the Sith
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  was the best one. I enjoyed it. But
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  then like, I remember thinking that the animated
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  series felt a little bit like a money grab at the
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  time and I was really cynical about it. I
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  was just like, do we need this? Like,
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  is it really going to make it better? It's
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  so stupid. And I was such a jerk about
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  it. And I didn't watch it for
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  like, I don't know, 10 or 15 more years is when I
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  finally got around to watching it. And
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  I was really stupid. I watched the whole show and
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  then I was like, what is this movie? You
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  were by so laws like, who's this Ahsoka? And
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  why are they talking like they already know each
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  other? Yeah, it was pretty funny. Then
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  I went back and watched it after I had finished the
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  show and I was like, oh, okay. Man,
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  oh man, though, it's, it's good. It's
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  our favorite. I mean, yeah, right from the
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  get go, Obi -Wan is calling Ventress my darling and
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  right being so funny, like way funnier than he is.
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  Well, that's not true. He's
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  pretty funny in the prequels. I
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  mean, there's so many classic lines from the
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  prequels, but there's a depth of character there
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  that where the sassiness and the funny and the
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  serious and the heartbreak, it all gets its space to
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  grow. And the fact that James Arnold
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  Taylor can do it all. I mean, it all period is
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  we've talked about, first of all, for those who
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  haven't yet listened, we do have a separate episode on
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  the fantastical life and world of James Arnold
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  Taylor in his own episode where we talk about his
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  other works and how talented he is. And
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  we shower all of the praise that he deserves in
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  that episode. But today we're talking about
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  specifically what he brings to the table as Obi -Wan
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  in comparison to the Obi -Wan's prior and after.
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  Well, we also have an interview
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  with him too. So we have a couple episodes
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  just about him. Yeah. I highly recommend go back
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  and listen to them because highly recommend. He
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  tells some great stories. As
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  we've gotten to know him, there's a depth to him
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  too. I mean, it's so, I was
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  trying to allude earlier and I totally got off on
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  a side tangent, but we talk about on this show
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  how talented and multifaceted voice actors
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  and actresses are. Yeah. And in Clone Wars, you
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  really get to see it come out because some of these
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  actors and actresses are voicing multiple characters
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  and you don't even know it. That's
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  how good they are. You know, and when you think
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  about episodes like any of the Mandalore, especially
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  Lawless. Yeah. I mean, oh God. The
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  levels of I don't know how else to say like there's a
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  depth of character there, not just in longevity of
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  episodes where they get to play out their characters.
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  But just where you can go from
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  Sassan and Anakin about crashing the ship and, you
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  know, being like an old married couple and just
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  kind of back and forth and back and forth and a soka
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  stand. They're just kind of annoyed and
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  then very seriously turn it into a lightsaber battle.
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  You know, there's visions of
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  Qui gone. There's all kinds of stuff going
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  on and a lot of it's in the animation, but it would
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  not come to life without the voice behind it. Oh
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  yeah. Absolutely. I think that it's it's
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  really cool to start Clone Wars over, especially if
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  you know where the character has gone and to
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  watch Obi -Wan in particular. I
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  mean, everyone gets great story arcs, but Obi -Wan
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  gets really unexpected ones that really, really
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  surprised me quite a lot. And
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  season one, he's kind of just dropping Sass, being
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  funny, doing the backhanded laser bolt deflection as he
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  runs away from Grievous. You
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  know, it's he smiles more. He
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  laughs a little bit by the end of season one things
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  start to get more complicated. Like
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  there's the Ryloth arc, which you and I both love
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  him in that. Oh, I love that. Love
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  it. Then season two, Point Rain and
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  Everything on Geonosia is like it added so much to
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  him because we started to see more of his like
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  honor. And then also he was so funny.
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  Yes. So it was like this mix
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  of he was he was like a full person. And
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  I think kind of before that, even in the prequel
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  sometimes, I feel like it's a performance and not a
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  full person on occasion. And
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  I feel like James got the opportunity to like close
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  the circle on the character. And
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  yes. And that's not like a hit
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  against Ewan. It's really more that like you
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  and got a section of the story and James got to
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  fill in a lot more of the backstory and like really
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  start to develop. Obi -Wan had like a secret
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  past. Right. Right. You
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  know, I mean, go ahead. No,
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  and just that like also ties into a lot of the
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  pain that he experiences in the Clone Wars with the
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  Lawless and Maul coming back, which brings up Qui
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  -Gon pain and like, right, all this stuff. And
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  then how it mirrors what happens with Anakin and
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  Revenge of the Sith. So it was just like this. It
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  just added so much more to this character that
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  sometimes seemed a little one dimensional and just
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  like always irritated with Anakin. Yeah.
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  I mean, think about the succession in which we're
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  talking about these characters as they portray
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  Obi -Wan. Allaganus had nothing. Just
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  his interpretation of a script. And
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  then Ewan comes along and has that little bit and
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  can build off of it in addition to a script
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  written. Right. And now we've got a
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  foundation and along comes Filoni and team that can
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  bridge the gap and can and now James has all of Ewan,
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  all of Alec and more script in which to build
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  upon this character. So like you said, he's in the
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  prequels. He's kind of always annoyed and
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  Anakin. That's because Anakin's like the
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  focus, right? It's his story of how he turns
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  into Darth Vader. But how do we get, I loved
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  you, Anakin, you were my brother, part of Obi -Wan.
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  And I think it's genius that
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  he goes from Attack of the Clones to Revenge of the
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  Sith and it's not that much time at all. Mm
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  -hmm. And James is able to bring the
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  pain that's necessary, the love and companionship that
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  fosters between him and Anakin before it all goes
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  to hell. He's there to befriend clones,
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  which we don't really see. We
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  see a little bit of like Cody and that sort of
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  thing. There's no Rex. There's
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  no depth. Right. We don't get anything with
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  the clones. They're just there. They're
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  an accessory, but that too is built. And
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  so we get to see Obi -Wan interact as a general, as
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  a leader, as someone who cares about these clones
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  and gives them individuality, honors their
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  individuality instead of just, you know, they're
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  just there. There's so many pieces that can be
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  attributed to what Faloni brought to the table. But
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  again, it's not believable unless you have that voice
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  that brings it home. Right. And James does it so well.
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  Yeah. It's like a sprinkle of
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  sass, a sprinkle of sadness, you know, that
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  torment that Obi -Wan has that he needs. Because
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  then, because then let's not forget. I
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  know I'm getting all wound up, but let's not forget.
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  I wish he could see you
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  talking. He's seen me enough to all
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  this. Then we have Ewan who gets to
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  come back as Obi -Wan and they have to watch him and
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  Hayden have to watch the Clone Wars to bridge the
• 13:30
  next gap. I mean, it's a beautiful,
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  harmonious thing. First it's Ewan, then it's James,
• 13:35
  then it's Ewan, then it's James, then it's, you know,
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  it's just like, and in hand, we skip down the
• 13:41
  road of Obi -Wan Kenobi. Okay,
• 13:45
  I'm done with my spiel. I just get really passionate
• 13:48
  when I think about how wonderful these people are.
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  I think it's, it's really
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  like, take a normal sentence, right, that you
• 13:56
  have to speak and now add any kind of emotion to it.
• 14:02
  And like, you know, James has
• 14:04
  told us that he had to act as though he didn't
• 14:07
  know what happened in Revenge of the Sith. Which
• 14:09
  would be difficult. Yeah. Very difficult. I
• 14:12
  know, like, oh, just trying to pretend like you don't
• 14:16
  know a horrible tragedy is coming around the corner.
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  How do not know? I
• 14:21
  don't know. It's crazy. But
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  then he, he's also explained they get three
• 14:25
  takes, they get the script the day of usually, so
• 14:29
  they don't even know what's coming. And
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  to be able to rise to the occasion every time you
• 14:37
  have a line and you only get three chances to get
• 14:41
  it right unless, you know, Dave really wants to rework
• 14:43
  a scene, I guess, over and over. But
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  like, that's insane. It's insane to me that you get
• 14:50
  such a short window of time to add so much depth
• 14:54
  and like they found out the day of when it was
• 14:57
  the lawless, except Anna. I think she knew ahead of
• 15:00
  time. But James didn't know that when
• 15:02
  he came in to read that day, she was dying. Yeah,
• 15:06
  I mean, it's kind of like, didn't Mark Hamill find out
• 15:08
  the day of that? Or like, when said Vader said,
• 15:13
  yeah, it was on set, like, so that his reaction was,
• 15:16
  so I kind of get that. That's
• 15:19
  cruel and unusual. But I get it. Yeah.
• 15:25
  Because I don't know, I couldn't be genuine if I
• 15:29
  wasn't genuinely surprised. That
• 15:31
  would be harder still. But I'm sure they do it all
• 15:33
  the time anyway. It just, it just goes to show
• 15:36
  why they're good is because you don't notice, right?
• 15:41
  So, like, yes, that's it. If
• 15:42
  you watched or listened to a performance that's
• 15:46
  terrible, you'd just be hung up on it all the
• 15:49
  time and be like, my God, that was just so bad. But
• 15:52
  because all of these actors are so good, we just flow
• 15:55
  with it flawlessly and never question how freaking
• 16:00
  difficult it must be to do. Can
• 16:04
  I tell you on a side that relates to this? Yes,
• 16:07
  please. I sat in on a meeting
• 16:09
  yesterday, just yesterday, and I was thinking about
• 16:11
  voice actors during this meeting. Because
• 16:14
  the poor individual as intelligent and skilled in
• 16:18
  the subject that this person was, terrible
• 16:23
  presenter. And it was virtual, so I
• 16:26
  didn't see this person. I didn't have to, you know,
• 16:29
  it was so distracting. Yeah.
• 16:33
  All of the filler that was being put in. And
• 16:36
  I know some people get nervous. I'm
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  not nervous. I'm not either as a public
• 16:42
  speaker or it doesn't. Yeah.
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  So I try to have like sympathy, right? Or
• 16:46
  empathy. One of the two, maybe both.
• 16:49
  But I was thinking to myself,
• 16:51
  there's a way to do this and there's a way not to.
• 16:56
  And it's the seamlessness that
• 16:57
  makes you want to listen to something. Yes.
• 17:00
  Mm -hmm. Yeah. So take a voice actor or
• 17:03
  actress, give them a script, and they do it
• 17:07
  seamlessly. It's the thinking component
• 17:12
  straight to the mouth and somehow they transform that
• 17:16
  into a character. Yep. Some people can't even do
• 17:19
  it with... We're not asking these people to
• 17:22
  do any character voices. We're
• 17:24
  just asking them to speak and like they can't, they
• 17:27
  have trouble with that. And listen, whatever. I'm
• 17:29
  not here to criticize. I'm criticizing. But
• 17:32
  like, it just proves that when it's good, it's good
• 17:37
  and you don't think about it. There
• 17:39
  is no like, wow, this is... I
• 17:42
  don't... This isn't good. It's
• 17:44
  a skill. It's really a skill. It
• 17:46
  really is. And I was glad... It
• 17:48
  really is. We got the chance to ask
• 17:50
  James this in person, virtually in person, that
• 17:54
  how much of voice acting is... You're
• 17:57
  born with it and how much of it is learned. And
• 18:00
  he said, like, there is quite a bit you have to
• 18:02
  be born with, especially physiologically, you know,
• 18:05
  the shape of your mouth can actually really affect.
• 18:08
  And like, us Chicagoans talk
• 18:11
  with our jaws like real tight, so it's very hard
• 18:14
  to get full enunciation on stuff. But
• 18:19
  you can learn acting, you can learn public speaking,
• 18:23
  but it's like... What point am I trying to make
• 18:28
  here? Like, there's an essence that
• 18:30
  comes out that can't be learned. Yes,
• 18:33
  yes, yes. Like a free flow. Yeah.
• 18:36
  That is like a panache, panache that... A
• 18:40
  ganache? Some have and some don't. It
• 18:41
  sounds delicious. A ganache? And
• 18:45
  we're back to food. It's really good though. I
• 18:49
  could really go for some goddamn chocolate ganache.
• 18:52
  Same. But you know what I'm
• 18:55
  saying. I know what you're saying.
• 18:56
  Yeah, yeah. I
• 18:58
  think it's a long way around of saying how
• 19:03
  talented James is because some people have got it
• 19:08
  and some people have not got it. And
• 19:09
  he clearly has a God -given gift. If
• 19:12
  you... Maybe I won't say God -given. I
• 19:15
  don't like to bring religion into you. Sure,
• 19:17
  sure. You know, a natural gift. Yeah,
• 19:20
  he clearly has a natural gift, but he also has a
• 19:25
  skill that he has homed. And
• 19:27
  developed over time. You can have that gift, but
• 19:30
  you still have to put hard work in. You
• 19:33
  still have to have an instinct, I think. And
• 19:35
  he has really good instincts about Obi -Wan and
• 19:40
  where to take the character. And
• 19:43
  I think... Yeah, and how Obi -Wan interacts
• 19:46
  with different characters. Because
• 19:47
  he has the massage part of him. Then
• 19:51
  there's the, you know, satine part of him. There's
• 19:54
  the Anakin part. And then there's the random
• 19:56
  other Jedi. Uh -huh. Yeah.
• 19:59
  Where he's kind of just like the general, the
• 20:02
  knight, the... Yes. Councilman. Councilmaster,
• 20:07
  councilperson. Member? I don't know. Member
• 20:10
  of the council. Just say it differently, Leigh
• 20:12
  -Anne. But you know what I mean?
• 20:15
  There's different roles that he
• 20:16
  plays as a character. I don't know. I
• 20:21
  couldn't do it. Didn't we ask him if he has to
• 20:26
  hear a piece of something in order to do a different
• 20:29
  voice? Oh yeah, sometimes. Like
• 20:31
  a little feeder to get him going for something. Not
• 20:34
  Obi -Wan, but... He could just drop into Obi
• 20:37
  -Wan at any moment. Yeah, that's his talent. He's
• 20:42
  obviously made for the role. Yeah.
• 20:44
  Obviously. And he said how much the
• 20:47
  character kind of means to him. And
• 20:49
  I think you and I feel this too, that Obi -Wan is
• 20:52
  really the kind of character that you can put
• 20:55
  on a pedestal. Like it's not really polite to
• 20:58
  put anyone on a pedestal, it's holding them to
• 21:00
  expectations that maybe aren't fair. But
• 21:02
  as a character, I feel like he's really someone to
• 21:05
  strive to be like. And I think I really believe
• 21:13
  Obi -Wan in the Clone Wars, and that's all James. I
• 21:17
  do too. Yes. Yes, 100%. There's
• 21:21
  no like cheeky where it's like, ah, he's saying it,
• 21:25
  but I don't really believe it. You
• 21:27
  know? There's moments like when he's down
• 21:31
  in the Geonosian Queens thing and he's doing the,
• 21:34
  come now Anakin, the nose of the mouth. That's
• 21:38
  believable part of him. But then there's the point
• 21:42
  reign. He's instructing people as he's
• 21:44
  hurt on the ground. He's still leading a battalion
• 21:48
  of troops and he has that authoritative tone to his
• 21:51
  voice. People trust him. He
• 21:52
  has to sound trustworthy. And
• 21:55
  James brings that. And then there's the, I will
• 21:59
  just say the entire Mortis arc where he's, you know,
• 22:03
  choose Ahsoka or take, what does he say Ahsoka? You
• 22:07
  know, there's a desperation and kind of a pain and a
• 22:12
  fear in his voice for Anakin that Anakin won't
• 22:15
  choose or don't, you know, a selflessness for him to
• 22:18
  choose. Oh my goodness, like the
• 22:21
  entire Mortis arc alone, you know. Yeah.
• 22:24
  Well, and then the Citadel arc as well. Oh,
• 22:29
  God, the Citadel. Where they're losing clones right
• 22:32
  and left. And I've heard this or many
• 22:34
  times that Dave wanted him to strike up a tone that
• 22:40
  was sympathetic. But he was also still a
• 22:44
  general and he still has to make the, we have to
• 22:47
  keep going. Exactly. So it's like knowing that
• 22:50
  you're sacrificing while still pushing the team
• 22:53
  forward because you have to. Like,
• 22:56
  I don't even know where you begin to craft that
• 23:01
  tone. There's some kind of tact involved
• 23:04
  that I don't have. I think general do though,
• 23:07
  they have to. Oh yeah. Especially
• 23:09
  the good ones, you know, the ones that care but
• 23:13
  have to push forward on the mission. Obi
• 23:15
  -Wan's fantastic at moving forward on missions. Yeah,
• 23:19
  sometimes almost to a point where like, hey, there's
• 23:22
  humans here. Yes. And that comes out too.
• 23:33
  Yeah. Sometimes. That's
• 23:35
  what I like about him though, because he, that's
• 23:38
  more realistic, I think. That's
• 23:40
  how people really are. I think that we're not all
• 23:43
  one thing all the time. You
• 23:45
  have moments where you're, you can be like cold and
• 23:49
  dispassionate and get your shit done. And
• 23:51
  then there's times where you're like kind of in
• 23:53
  your head too much and feeling too much. And
• 23:55
  I like that he has multiple sides, but they're
• 24:00
  all believable. They're all in character for some
• 24:03
  reason. How about when he and Quinlan
• 24:08
  go to Zero's mother? Oh my gosh. Zero
• 24:11
  the Hutt's mother. That is like my favorite
• 24:14
  interaction. Yes. And he brings it. You
• 24:19
  guys know the scene we're talking about with the door
• 24:23
  and the pardon us, ma 'am. He
• 24:26
  hasn't mastered the concept of knocking is one of my
• 24:29
  favorite Obi -Wan lines ever. Same.
• 24:34
  But there's like five, like there's the five realms of
• 24:39
  Obi -Wan in like that whole thing. Because
• 24:41
  by the end of it, he's head over heels with
• 24:46
  lifesavers and going after Cad Bane and Quinlan's down
• 24:50
  and all this stuff. And he's got two sabers. And
• 24:52
  so he's going from pardon us. We
• 24:57
  didn't mean to intrude, you know, polite, you know,
• 25:00
  that sort of thing. And, and he's also kind of
• 25:03
  cheeky with Quinlan. And it shows we've talked about
• 25:06
  how Obi -Wan and Quinlan Voss' relationship, their
• 25:10
  friendship, is detectable through the voice actors
• 25:14
  and a little bit of cheekiness that they have
• 25:17
  that you can bring that in a voice that there's a
• 25:21
  history there without ever knowing the history. Yes,
• 25:23
  exactly. Well, I mean, even Cody is like
• 25:27
  you see my edge and Obi -Wan says Quinlan Voss has
• 25:31
  that effect. Clearly there's a history there. I
• 25:36
  mean, the writing is superb. But
• 25:38
  it's it's all flat letters on a page. Yeah,
• 25:41
  until it's read correctly. You
• 25:43
  know what I'm saying? Yes, absolutely. Oh,
• 25:46
  that's so good. Yeah, I have to rewatch that. I
• 25:49
  have to rewatch that one just for kicks. I
• 25:51
  that is so good. I have that one on my phone
• 25:54
  and I watch it like when I'm on a plane. Usually
• 25:57
  I always put that one on because it makes me so
• 25:59
  happy. I'm sorry, but when Quinlan is
• 26:03
  is the dude and says, well, that's like your
• 26:05
  opinion man. Yeah, that's I need to know if
• 26:09
  they like did that on purpose. If
• 26:11
  that was not, I feel like Quinlan Voss is the dude
• 26:14
  of Star Wars. Don't forget live laugh. Lebowski.
• 26:20
  I don't know if we've ever said that on this show. I
• 26:22
  think I've we okay live laugh. Lebowski
• 26:26
  is the sign above my living room. If
• 26:30
  I ever own an Airbnb, I'm just gonna fill it with
• 26:32
  little signs. The sweaters just casually
• 26:36
  hanging in the closet like so you know, you're like,
• 26:38
  oh my God, there it is. The
• 26:39
  Lebowski sweater, which I own. Thank
• 26:41
  you, mother and father. And you have to have like a
• 26:44
  bowling ball on display and like mods. Horned
• 26:51
  helmet. Yes. The green robe. You're
• 26:56
  acting out the polishing the bowling. Yeah,
• 26:59
  I was I was doing the polishing of the bowling
• 27:01
  ball. But I think I think Quinlan
• 27:04
  Voss would look good in the Lebowski sweater. He
• 27:06
  could pull it off. Actually Obi -Wan could could really
• 27:10
  wear that he could pull that off because he's got
• 27:12
  a beard. I want to see them both
• 27:14
  shuffling around in a bathrobe. That's
• 27:16
  really all I just. And jelly shoes. Yes.
• 27:20
  Oh my God. We've sidetracked this episode. We
• 27:26
  have but but honestly. Okay,
• 27:30
  James Arnold Taylor voicing Obi -Wan Kenobi in a robe
• 27:33
  and jelly shoes from like the 80s. I
• 27:36
  wish you're asking. Yes, we should ask James to
• 27:40
  read the big Lebowski script as it would be like
• 27:43
  enough. That would be the best ever.
• 27:46
  That rug really tied the room
• 27:49
  together. Man, just say. Man,
• 27:52
  just say that line. Oh my gosh. Listen.
• 27:57
  There's a beverage here, man. Yes,
• 27:59
  there's a beverage. It's not good. Anyway,
• 28:05
  sorry, James. Sorry. Well, listen, we like to
• 28:09
  play here and you could probably do the voice.
• 28:11
  That's what we're saying. He
• 28:12
  could do it. He could do it. It
• 28:13
  would be so good. Anyway, back to Obi -Wan. Well,
• 28:19
  I was kind of thinking of him in a bathrobe and
• 28:22
  jelly sandals. I was going to say, I really
• 28:24
  would like someone to draw Obi -Wan in jelly sandals.
• 28:27
  They have to be the right jelly
• 28:29
  sandals. Are his pink or are they
• 28:30
  clear? I thought they were clear,
• 28:33
  but they were old. So they were like that tinted
• 28:37
  yellowish, pinkish. Aged. Yeah, they're aged jelly
• 28:42
  shoes. Okay. Anyway, sorry for anyone
• 28:50
  who's not seen the Big Lebowski. What
• 28:53
  are you doing with your life? I
• 28:55
  mean, it's a trip. It is extremely bizarre. That's
• 29:01
  for sure. It is. The
• 29:02
  first time I saw it, I was way too young and I
• 29:04
  did not understand, but now I love it. Oh
• 29:07
  my Lord. It's a product of the Cullen
• 29:09
  Brothers. Yes. I mean, period, you know.
• 29:12
  Yes. End of story. What
• 29:16
  other moments do you love in the Clone Wars that
• 29:18
  James brings to life? We talked about a few already,
• 29:22
  but yeah, I just mentioned zero the Hutt's mother that
• 29:28
  I just I'll never get over that. And
• 29:30
  I love that point. Rain is always a good one that
• 29:33
  for two totally different reasons. Yeah.
• 29:37
  I mean, man, the anything from the Mandalore trilogy
• 29:45
  in season two, because it's just so you just don't see
• 29:51
  Obi -Wan flustered like that on a daily basis. It
• 29:55
  was so fun to watch it. Yes.
• 29:58
  Yes. I was thinking when Anakin is
• 30:03
  getting out of the elevator, he gives him that
• 30:05
  look. You know, that whole I mean,
• 30:07
  basically every scene where that he's trying to explain
• 30:10
  but not explain that Satine and him were involved in
• 30:14
  some way. Yeah. Yeah. I
• 30:16
  mean, so good. They just like now everyone has
• 30:20
  expanded on it. It has all these theories, but
• 30:22
  originally it was just a few lines of dialogue where
• 30:26
  he said they were on an extended mission to
• 30:28
  Mandalore. And that was really all the
• 30:32
  detail he was going to give. Yeah.
• 30:35
  Anakin filled in the blanks. Yes,
• 30:37
  he did. He said it's clear you had
• 30:39
  feelings for her and Obi -Wan said that he is his
• 30:44
  responsibilities demanded that he be elsewhere. Do
• 30:48
  you think this just popped into my head? But
• 30:51
  do you think it was kind of bad? Did
• 30:55
  you think Obi -Wan felt bad when Anakin said it's clear
• 30:58
  that you have feelings for her? Do
• 30:59
  you think he was ashamed that it was clear? Quote
• 31:02
  unquote. Like he's not trying to make it
• 31:05
  clear. I don't think he was ashamed.
• 31:08
  I did get the sense that he
• 31:09
  felt regret though. I mean, even even said that
• 31:13
  Yoda always leaves out the part of the undercurrent of
• 31:16
  remorse. Yeah. And I think it's true.
• 31:19
  Yes. That seemed to be more the
• 31:21
  emotion I was seeing. Not that he was like, oh, I
• 31:23
  made a horrible mistake. But
• 31:25
  like, no, they, it seemed like there was some pain
• 31:30
  there. Like maybe he hurt her by
• 31:32
  leaving or maybe they like left on bad terms and
• 31:35
  that's why they're kind of prickly now that they're
• 31:38
  coming back together again. I
• 31:42
  wonder if Anakin noticed it because Anakin was living
• 31:44
  it. I definitely yes. And
• 31:48
  I think Anakin could sense emotions more in people,
• 31:52
  maybe more than it's let on, but anyone that strong
• 31:56
  in the force. Exactly. He's super strong in the
• 31:59
  force. So of course he's picking up
• 32:00
  on something. It's interesting to think of all
• 32:04
  the other gaps that need filled in. We've
• 32:08
  already gotten so much and we're just greeting for
• 32:10
  more. I know. I
• 32:12
  really do want the, that story. I
• 32:17
  know James has been talking about it a lot more
• 32:20
  recently about couldn't they do an animated mini mini
• 32:25
  series. And like, I want that story of
• 32:27
  Obi -Wan and Satine, but I don't. Yeah,
• 32:32
  at the same time, because careful what you wish for
• 32:35
  it may not be what you hoped for. Exactly.
• 32:38
  And sometimes I enjoy not knowing because it's fun to
• 32:44
  have this part of a character that we all seem
• 32:46
  to know so much about and love so much and not know
• 32:49
  what really happened with those two. Right.
• 32:52
  And only they know. They're the only two that know.
• 32:56
  You know, they could do a tale
• 32:58
  of the Jedi for Obi -Wan with that storyline. And
• 33:02
  it still would give the audience something with him
• 33:06
  and Satine from back in the day, but it wouldn't
• 33:08
  give the whole thing. That would make everyone go even
• 33:11
  crazier. Oh my gosh. Do
• 33:13
  we ask for a little? Do we ask for a lot? Do
• 33:16
  we ask not? Yeah, I know. So
• 33:19
  can just let me write it and it will then we'll be
• 33:23
  fine. Like, I mean, you already did.
• 33:26
  Yeah, but I need to Disney fire
• 33:28
  it. Do you though? I
• 33:31
  mean, if I was yours. Well,
• 33:34
  if they want to buy it for me, I need to see if
• 33:36
  they come to you do whatever they want. But
• 33:39
  yeah, I just feel like that's that story needs to
• 33:43
  follow a specific kind of arc to make sense, and at
• 33:46
  least to me, and especially with the little crumbs
• 33:50
  they've left us and with the performances of the
• 33:53
  actors to with with the like depth that they added
• 33:56
  in the law is the way James says her voice or
• 33:59
  her name while she's dying is so sad. That's
• 34:03
  what I'm saying. It's one line. It's
• 34:05
  one name. It's one drop and the amount of
• 34:08
  emotion that can come out of him is truly is it's
• 34:12
  just it's respectable and astounding and befuddling.
• 34:17
  That just the talent, the sheer
• 34:19
  talent. Yeah. Yeah, he brought a lot to
• 34:23
  that character and and over and over and over and over
• 34:28
  again. Yes, because I guess he was he
• 34:31
  was in the Revenge of the Sith video game. He
• 34:33
  was in the Clone Wars mini series. He
• 34:35
  was in Battlefront, the video games. He
• 34:38
  was in the Lego movies. Also,
• 34:41
  one of my favorite favorite lines he's ever done is
• 34:46
  from the Lego movie where he says who cares about a
• 34:50
  trade dispute. Just something we've all uttered
• 34:55
  while watching Star Wars. Exactly.
• 34:59
  It was such a voice of the people in that moment.
• 35:02
  Yes, he is. He
• 35:04
  is ironically when he's done Hawaiian shirt. Obi
• 35:08
  -Wan. Oh, he's saying in that one.
• 35:12
  Lego movie. So,
• 35:15
  yeah, I feel like he he had to do so much and
• 35:20
  like we've said in the past only with his voice.
• 35:25
  We talked about how Ella
• 35:27
  Guinness, his main thing was all about gestures.
• 35:32
  Yes. Yes. Yes.
• 35:33
  Yes. Yes. And Ewan was obviously very
• 35:38
  physical in the role and did both. Yeah.
• 35:41
  And James only gets to use his voice. He
• 35:45
  never gets to fall back on a gesture and he has to
• 35:48
  portray that emotion without physical gestures. That
• 35:52
  is to me just absolutely mind blowing. It's
• 35:56
  it's why he's our favorite. Oh,
• 36:00
  yeah. Okay, our question this week is
• 36:08
  if you had to choose one, what is your favorite line
• 36:12
  uttered by Obi -Wan Kenobi in the Clone Wars that
• 36:16
  James Arnold Taylor delivers on behalf of Obi -Wan? So,
• 36:21
  what is your favorite James Arnold Taylor Obi -Wan line
• 36:24
  in the Clone Wars? In other words, let us know.
• 36:27
  Good luck. Pick
• 36:28
  one. So last week we talked about
• 36:35
  Ewan McGregor and we asked what is your favorite non
• 36:40
  -Star Wars Ewan McGregor movie and why? And
• 36:43
  I have to say I received several long essays from
• 36:47
  several followers. Yes. And they were too long to
• 36:53
  read, but it's very clear that everyone feels very
• 36:59
  passionately about Ewan McGregor as an actor. But
• 37:02
  we'll just read this one from our Spotify from Gail,
• 37:05
  our dear friend Gail. She said, she said, I love
• 37:09
  perfect sense. Such a great end of the world
• 37:11
  movie and down with love because it's so cheesy and
• 37:14
  he's so hot and charming. I
• 37:18
  will disagree with none of that. No
• 37:21
  lies detected. Zero. But thank you for writing
• 37:27
  into us. I know that we don't have
• 37:30
  time to read all the people sent us, but I
• 37:35
  really appreciate them. Yes, we do. And
• 37:37
  we re -appreciate it. We love that you guys are
• 37:41
  passionate and have something to say and feel
• 37:45
  safe to say it and to write just gushing what you
• 37:52
  love. I think it's so wonderful.
• 37:55
  It's very relatable. Yes,
• 37:58
  it is. So thanks to everyone who
• 38:01
  wrote in. We love you and we appreciate
• 38:03
  you. Next week, we wrap up our
• 38:09
  series on the Obi -Wan's by rounding it out with our
• 38:13
  fourth and final Obi -Wan portrayal given to us by
• 38:18
  Stephen Stanton in Rebels. And
• 38:21
  we'd be remiss not to include Stephen because he
• 38:25
  rounds out the Obi -Wan's in a way that is final
• 38:31
  and beautiful and touching and we have to include it
• 38:35
  because to not include it would be a sin. It's
• 38:40
  a really important moment in Obi -Wan's work. It
• 38:42
  is. So it's important, I think, to
• 38:45
  include him. Yeah, so we'll talk about him,
• 38:49
  his Obi -Wan portrayal, and much more. So
• 38:52
  join us. And thank you so much for
• 38:55
  joining us here on the Most Things Can Obi
• 38:57
  podcast. We appreciate every single one
• 39:00
  of our patrons and are grateful for your support.
• 39:03
  If you would like to support
• 39:03
  the podcast and become a patron, head over to the
• 39:06
  Most Things Can Obi Patreon. As
• 39:08
  always, you can follow us on Tumblr, Twitter,
• 39:11
  Instagram, and YouTube. And don't forget to subscribe
• 39:13
  on your favorite podcast player. And
• 39:16
  if you enjoy the podcast, you can rate us on Spotify
• 39:19
  and Apple. And if you need just one place
• 39:21
  to find all of these things, head over to
• 39:23
  mostthingskanobi .com. So until next time, my space
• 39:27
  twin, may the Force be with you. Always.