Latest / Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast / Episode 102: The Man, The Myth, The Legend - An Epic Interview with James Arnold Taylor

Transcript

Episode 102: The Man, The Myth, The Legend - An Epic Interview with James Arnold Taylor · Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello there. It's time for most things
• 0:02
  Kenobi. Shouldn't it be all things
• 0:05
  Kenobi. Hmm.
• 0:20
  Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of most things Kenobi.
• 0:23
  A podcast about Obi-Wan Kenobi and all things Star Wars.
• 0:26
  I'm your host Lauren, and I'm your host Leanne, and I'm your
• 0:30
  other host. Obi-Wan Kenobi or James Arnold
• 0:32
  Taylor. Take your pick old.
• 0:35
  Jedi Master, Plo, Koon rako, hardeen.
• 0:41
  Yeah. Now, we don't want to rako
• 0:42
  hardeen, because we know what he did.
• 0:44
  Obi-Wan, we do now bad about OSI.
• 0:48
  Sobeck your Jedi I resolved will get you nowhere.
• 0:52
  We had it's your favorite is the Christopher Walken meets.
• 0:55
  Alpa Chino, I'm telling her of all the characters we're off to
• 1:02
  a smashing start. I've completely crashed your
• 1:05
  party here. We do, like he's all fine.
• 1:08
  When I come in and start doing voices, you fit right in.
• 1:12
  Okay. That's kind of why you're here.
• 1:14
  Okay, good everybody. Welcome.
• 1:18
  The incredible. The man himself James.
• 1:22
  Arnold Taylor, AKA every voice. You just heard, but Obi-Wan to
• 1:27
  all of us. Welcome to the show.
• 1:30
  Yes, welcome to most things Kenobi, although today will be
• 1:35
  more even more most thing mostly Kenobi mostly, you know, can we
• 1:46
  just say we We never expected you to even send us one intro to
• 1:52
  show and you were so kind and generous, well, just sent us a
• 1:56
  bunch and everyone just loves it and no good.
• 1:59
  It was such a treat and you've just been so kind and so thank
• 2:03
  you from Lauren and I are you're just you're just wonderful.
• 2:07
  Well thank you all likewise though.
• 2:10
  I love the show. I love what you do.
• 2:12
  I love with you. Represent in the show and the
• 2:14
  goodness and the kindness of Star Wars and Star Wars fans and
• 2:17
  just The whole world of all of that that we've endured over the
• 2:21
  last few years. This is a Haven for all of us to
• 2:25
  sit back, relax and realize it. Oh, that's right.
• 2:27
  It's there's still a lot of fun in the world, so well done, you
• 2:31
  thank you, thank you. Yeah, that's yeah, the
• 2:33
  complement is, I mean we really we try to stay on the positive
• 2:37
  side of Star Wars. There's a lot of toxicity out in
• 2:40
  the world and we don't want to be part of that.
• 2:41
  So yeah and some goofy fun stuff to you do everyone solutely.
• 2:48
  We delve into it, we have a question for you later, that
• 2:51
  will entail who finally, I'm intrigued.
• 2:54
  Yes, it'll be in the very end of this episode.
• 2:57
  Just just a quick one or two rapid fire questions for.
• 3:00
  Okay. Good.
• 3:00
  I like it. Yeah.
• 3:01
  I think you'll love them Anakin does that to me every once in a
• 3:04
  while as well? Oh well, I don't know if you
• 3:06
  know this but I represent Anakin on this show and she represents.
• 3:10
  Yes, I actually do know that. Yes.
• 3:14
  So now and here's a little secret for you.
• 3:17
  Although I don't know. You'll know that you're not so
• 3:19
  Matt Lanter and I both live in the same neighborhood and he
• 3:23
  lives down the street from me, although he lives I should say
• 3:26
  up the street because he has the, you know, the big Hollywood
• 3:28
  money, the big TV and film under.
• 3:30
  So he's got he's got the big house on the hill, so he lives
• 3:34
  above me. So you see where I'm going.
• 3:36
  Has technically round, he has the high ground and he reminds
• 3:42
  me. He reminds me of it all the
• 3:44
  time. Does he get the appropriate?
• 3:46
  That is absolutely. Because, you know, in in the
• 3:49
  Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Anakin or very much like an old married
• 3:52
  couple at times, they are like a When Harry Met Sally version of
• 3:57
  his deeply off of one another so well.
• 4:00
  And it's such a thing too. I'm glad it carries on in real
• 4:03
  life. Oh, absolutely.
• 4:05
  We are like brothers and we see each other.
• 4:07
  So I in fact I just got back from seeing him and Ashley at a
• 4:10
  Comic Con in Huntsville, Alabama.
• 4:13
  Wonderful, we had a wonderful time and then we're often in
• 4:16
  another week to Indianapolis. And then Detroit and then
• 4:19
  Arizona and then Miami and then Boston, and then oh my gosh, a
• 4:23
  lot of different places so 15 years of Clone War.
• 4:25
  So there you go. It's great amazing.
• 4:27
  We were at that panel. We were cheering.
• 4:29
  Yeah. Crying.
• 4:31
  We were laughing. That was pretty fun, wasn't it?
• 4:34
  Yeah. So sorry me my dear ailed
• 4:36
  although the way that you're doing just you have questions
• 4:38
  and stuff. Do you think is the preamble?
• 4:43
  Yeah. So, I don't know
• 5:14
  if it's good. It's like when you're doing
• 5:16
  stuff around the house. About podcasts, you know I'm
• 5:19
  he's like my podcast talking to myself.
• 5:21
  When I first came out it was like 90 minutes to two hours at
• 5:24
  times and I guess it's too long and people go no I like it.
• 5:26
  And I was like, okay. So then I do a half hour version
• 5:29
  of people like I do. It's only a half-hour.
• 5:30
  Yeah, okay yeah we have this name will do a Marathon today
• 5:36
  for hours. This is the for well Sam.
• 5:39
  I'm listening to your podcast. Mmm, that's good water.
• 5:42
  Oh well, it will be coming back. It's taking a Hiatus for the
• 5:46
  last year but you know, I Say about that later.
• 5:48
  But yeah, I've just took some time off, but I'm coming back in
• 5:51
  a lot of people at the shows have been asking when's the
• 5:53
  podcast coming back and I've you've all been very kind but if
• 5:56
  you've been very kind to support my podcast, so thank you for
• 5:59
  sure. It's great.
• 6:00
  It's really interesting. I always have it on when I'm
• 6:02
  working and I laughed so hard in the last episode when Billy ran
• 6:05
  through the door and knocked all this stuff down.
• 6:07
  Oh yeah. Well, you know, Bill, he's very
• 6:09
  excited to get you some coffee for, you know, I don't drink
• 6:15
  coffee Billy, I know, but I thought it might be nice.
• 6:18
  Y'all in there and do that. Let me check the microphone.
• 6:21
  Hello. Hello, hello.
• 6:21
  Hello. People that don't know my
• 6:23
  podcast. Now, doing what the heck is
• 6:25
  going on. Now they have to watch or listen
• 6:27
  to this, if you're not exactly it.
• 6:29
  It's yeah, I thought about having cameras in there too.
• 6:33
  And then people could see the craziness of just one person,
• 6:36
  doing all this. If we had cameras would be a
• 6:40
  half salute, I don't know. People would to now, we have all
• 6:45
  kinds of things going on. Mike at number one, Her dog.
• 6:49
  Number two. But yeah, there are Cohoes.
• 6:51
  Tell ya, no. Tell me the your cat's name and
• 6:54
  your dog's name Clarence, Claire cat's name.
• 6:57
  That's a good name for it. What's named after?
• 7:00
  Bruce Springsteen's. Oh, Clarence Clemons, you got it
• 7:03
  on the sax players. So I yeah.
• 7:04
  Clarence Clemons was one of my heroes growing up?
• 7:06
  Yeah, big man. That's awesome.
• 7:09
  And then your doggy's name is her.
• 7:10
  Name is Luna. Luna.
• 7:12
  Just like every dog on the planet right now.
• 7:15
  It's a good Jedi named though. I like I was just a little said
• 7:19
  I look like that and Jedi Clara as well.
• 7:24
  He's he's up there with mace. Yeah, I was gonna say he might
• 7:28
  be a little more on the dark side.
• 7:30
  Actually your toes, the line. So this is a crazy I get I'm
• 7:35
  going off on a tangent here but we were at this this Comic-Con
• 7:38
  and we had this question. Somebody asked Matt Matt was
• 7:41
  getting pummeled with Anakin questions at this, but somebody
• 7:44
  asked this question, I think you both might appreciate, they said
• 7:48
  What do you think if Mace Windu didn't die?
• 7:52
  When, you know, when Palpatine gets him, if he actually
• 7:54
  survived like, there's talk of and Anakin knew that would that
• 7:58
  have changed him going to the dark side?
• 8:01
  Well, that's a really good question.
• 8:03
  Yes, we should ponder that. What was Matt's answer?
• 8:06
  Do you remember? He said, we both kind of a
• 8:08
  great. It's like, I don't think so.
• 8:10
  I think it was already too far gone at that point but yeah,
• 8:13
  pretty, yes, it was yes. But interesting.
• 8:18
  Thought to ponder. So, yeah, we had one of our
• 8:20
  patrons and our 100th episode asked if blow Coon had been in
• 8:24
  charge, instead of Mace, would Anakin have had a better chance,
• 8:28
  which I thought was an interesting question.
• 8:29
  That's an excellent question. And, you know, I'm bias.
• 8:34
  I would say he might, somebody asked me at this guy.
• 8:39
  There was some in-depth questions here.
• 8:41
  Somebody came to the table and asked me, do you think if Qui
• 8:44
  gonn had survived? He wouldn't have as well.
• 8:47
  We We have explored about yeah. Here we get asked that all the
• 8:51
  time. It's a very interesting train of
• 8:53
  thought, when you start thinking about all of the things, because
• 8:56
  I got was such an interesting character himself with what he
• 9:00
  believed that the Jedi Council and completely different than
• 9:03
  everybody. Yeah, yeah.
• 9:04
  I think he may have held on to him longer.
• 9:07
  I think the slip was inevitable. I think that, you know, the fall
• 9:10
  I should say was inevitable for Anakin but, and that's the
• 9:13
  beauty of it too. You know, of the whole
• 9:16
  overarching are of that story line and that Luke Skywalker,
• 9:20
  really is the only one that could save them.
• 9:21
  I mean, that's to me, that's what means the most, but it's
• 9:24
  yes. And but, yeah.
• 9:27
  Blow Coon boy, you know, he's I always say that if Darth Maul
• 9:32
  can survive being cut in half a you know who right then?
• 9:35
  Plok honk it, survived Order 66 but just waiting for it.
• 9:38
  We're waiting. Yeah, Dave shut me down on that
• 9:41
  though. It's celebration.
• 9:42
  I'm sure you saw what you said. George said.
• 9:45
  No. But you know, I don't know.
• 9:48
  Well, George isn't in charge now.
• 9:50
  That's right, that's right. That's what I wanted to say.
• 9:54
  But wait a second, Dave, you can just make it your own.
• 9:57
  Now, come on baby. Maybe he's just holding it close
• 10:00
  to his chest because he's so below.
• 10:02
  I know, I know. Hello khun.
• 10:04
  Wasn't that what they called Luke, when they were doing all
• 10:07
  booked a Boba Fett? And yeah, I kept saying flow
• 10:09
  coon. And I was like going, oh, if
• 10:11
  only you know, I always want to see though, we only got a taste
• 10:15
  of it in details of the Jedi, I want to see.
• 10:17
  See, platoon and Ahsoka and the whole training and that whole
• 10:21
  story because Dave used to always sit and T's Ashley and I
• 10:25
  with little bits and pieces of that story that he had in his
• 10:28
  head of how those two really, you know, Mentor, he mentored
• 10:32
  her in such, I think would be a beautiful even if it was just a
• 10:35
  hour-long special or something. When that be amazing, I would
• 10:38
  love. I would do that voiced by of
• 10:40
  course, Ashley. And James on the table?
• 10:44
  Yes, they'll get Ian McKellen and You know, it's not like you.
• 10:53
  So, okay, ask me anything. I'm sorry.
• 10:56
  I'm hijacking at all. Oh, no it do we love it.
• 11:00
  This is the joy of it. It's so easy to talk to you.
• 11:02
  So it's quite nice good good. I should say, since we're on the
• 11:08
  topic of Matt Lanter. I'm just going to get this out
• 11:10
  of the way. Yes, here we go.
• 11:13
  I have to, I have to, yes, I think he's dreamy.
• 11:17
  No, no, no, that's not. That's just a legit question.
• 11:20
  Okay, I was gonna ask Matt, it's celebration because I thought we
• 11:24
  were going to meet you and then him right next.
• 11:26
  Yeah, it's all good. So if you get a chance to ask
• 11:28
  him, that's fine. But I want your opinion.
• 11:29
  Pinion since you're here, huh? You know, the kadavo arc.
• 11:33
  How Could You Forget right? Yes.
• 11:36
  Anakin is Whispering to the queen something.
• 11:39
  Hmm, we don't know, but it makes a bird blush and I have been
• 11:46
  dying to know what what on Earth could could he have actually.
• 11:52
  Well, it can Skywalker, say to this queen to make a bird blush.
• 11:55
  I can I can give you the, you know, the sad reality question
• 12:00
  or answer to it and that I was in I was in the studio when it
• 12:03
  all happened but that You know a voice actor.
• 12:07
  Whispering is just you know so it's yeah it's yeah, didn't
• 12:12
  really say anything. But there was joke of what he
• 12:16
  actually said and then we probably made matte blush when
• 12:20
  we were all giving him a bad time below.
• 12:22
  So what was that? What well what what exactly did
• 12:26
  you say Annika and he did something he did something like
• 12:32
  well you know, I can't, you know, kiss until I can, you
• 12:35
  know, No, whatever Hazmat would do, but I do remember that
• 12:38
  specifically. That's funny that you would say,
• 12:40
  is great. I'll ask him.
• 12:42
  I will ask him at some point. Yes, that's that's very kind of
• 12:45
  you. It's been bugging me.
• 12:47
  I just had a thought for the first time ever lie.
• 12:49
  And maybe the bird blushed because he wasn't that smooth.
• 12:52
  I mean, because that the other thing is pretty embarrassing.
• 12:55
  An attack of the Clones Anakin is Anakin after yeah, end of the
• 12:59
  day, right? So it could go either way.
• 13:01
  The bird is our only indicator So anywho that's out of the way
• 13:07
  onto Obi-Wan because that's why we're all here.
• 13:09
  Oh sure. Okay, mostly Kenobi.
• 13:13
  So, our first question is, I'm just curious when you first
• 13:17
  started voicing ob1. You were obviously voice
• 13:19
  matching to begin with but then as time went on and Clone Wars
• 13:23
  evolved, you are able to really take on the character in your
• 13:27
  own right and develop him. So I was curious what the
• 13:30
  process was like of taking a character that already existed.
• 13:33
  He had like, A spirit and a character developed by other
• 13:37
  actors. But then you made it your own in
• 13:39
  your own right? Which was beautifully done.
• 13:41
  By the way. Oh, well, thank you.
• 13:43
  You know? It is one of those things that
• 13:44
  you get used to as being a voice actor.
• 13:46
  You're called to do that a lot, you know, especially myself,
• 13:49
  most of my work has been doubling celebrities, you know,
• 13:52
  through the years from Michael J.
• 13:53
  Fox well, I whoa, wait a second doc.
• 13:55
  Michael J, fox Sir. Christopher Lloyd.
• 13:57
  Great Scott, Marty to Christopher Walken is crazy.
• 14:01
  You know. Whoa, 2.
• 14:04
  You'll McGregor. And so originally it was very
• 14:08
  much of course the movies were still being made attack of the
• 14:10
  Clones had just been made and then Revenge of the Sith was in
• 14:13
  the process of being made when I came in as Obi-Wan, all those
• 14:18
  years ago, 21 years ago. Now, I think it was it's amazing
• 14:23
  because we started the micro series a year before it actually
• 14:27
  came out as well. So it's a love that serial
• 14:30
  neither, we have two years. Yeah, yeah.
• 14:31
  Thank you. I love that to, although I
• 14:34
  always Look, I'm sure you've heard me say before, it was so
• 14:36
  short, it would take me longer to park my car than it would to
• 14:39
  go in and say the lines and say, what was that?
• 14:42
  That was Anakin Anakin Anakin and then that was pretty much
• 14:46
  it. But so it was when I first came
• 14:51
  in it was very much. Well, you are doubling Ewan
• 14:53
  McGregor. And so just whenever we need
• 14:56
  something, which I'm used to doing with Captain Jack Sparrow
• 15:00
  for Johnny Depp or just Johnny's regular speaking voice.
• 15:04
  The Mad Hatter or, you know, Willy Wonka.
• 15:06
  So I'm used to doing that. So I was like, okay I'm just
• 15:09
  filling in for you and, and then it evolved into this cartoon and
• 15:14
  then it evolved into video games and then it evolved into Clone
• 15:17
  Wars, you know, all this time later.
• 15:18
  So I was, you know, I'm used to being asked to do that but then
• 15:21
  when it came in and I knew that it was a Clone Wars cartoon and
• 15:25
  Iran Star Wars cartoon. My Two Worlds, collided.
• 15:29
  But then something happened while we were making clone wars
• 15:32
  that we all know. Now not the micro series.
• 15:34
  The Clone Wars. Dave filoni comes in one day and
• 15:36
  you know what he's saying is very early on, probably third or
• 15:39
  fourth episode and he's saying, you know, George and he were
• 15:42
  having a conversation about this and saying, look, you McGregor
• 15:45
  will never play Obi-Wan Kenobi again.
• 15:46
  Little did they know or you know Hayden won't play Anakin or you
• 15:50
  know all these characters you guys are the representation of
• 15:53
  these characters now so take them and make them your own.
• 15:55
  So it was really this shift and Dave directed me a lot of times
• 15:59
  I was so used to matching Yuan. You know when I would say well
• 16:03
  you know, in Attack of the Clones.
• 16:04
  And she said it like this, or he might set, you know, it should
• 16:07
  be him, but it's not, you know, it's if he was talking about Ste
• 16:10
  Odon lost a planet Master Obi-Wan, right?
• 16:12
  You know, those things, right? And and so I would try to, you
• 16:17
  know, constantly be thinking, how would you and say it and
• 16:20
  Dave would go Nana, James, just do it.
• 16:22
  How you would, how, you know? So he would pull me away from
• 16:26
  what my instinct was in matching you and and say, what would your
• 16:31
  OB 12? So that was a wonderful thing to
• 16:33
  have. And I, then try to pay homage.
• 16:37
  I'm I'm the third a lot. I'm the third Leonardo, the
• 16:40
  Ninja Turtle. I'm the third Fred Flintstone
• 16:42
  and I'm the third Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• 16:44
  So I tend, yeah, I try to then combine them.
• 16:48
  So, you know, these aren't the droids you're looking for, you
• 16:52
  know, who the force is? What gives a Jedi, his power.
• 16:55
  I like to take a little of that and take a little viewing and
• 16:58
  combine them both, because I was struck the first time, I
• 17:01
  remember watching Phantom Menace in a theater and he Opens his
• 17:04
  mouth. I have a bad feeling about this.
• 17:07
  It's not about the mission Master, something more elusive,
• 17:10
  you know, and I went, oh my goodness, he's doing a young
• 17:14
  Alec Guinness. I mean he the way he bent his
• 17:17
  words and, you know, all of that.
• 17:20
  It was beautiful. So I thought, okay, I'm doing
• 17:22
  you and McGregor doing, Alec Guinness doing Obi-Wan Kenobi,
• 17:24
  so and and then, yeah. And then you and I heard him
• 17:29
  saying, you know, on a show that he watched the movies, and then
• 17:33
  he watched the Clone Wars to get the boy.
• 17:34
  Eyes back and I thought, well, that's funny.
• 17:36
  So he's watching James Arnold Taylor.
• 17:37
  Doing you McGregor doing? Allegan is doing Obi-Wan Kenobi,
• 17:39
  to get Obi-Wan Kenobi, back to do it.
• 17:41
  So there you go. Great Scott, Marty So you got to
• 17:48
  meet you win. Oh boy, Liberation, how was that
• 17:52
  after 21 years of doing this? I finally just said to somebody,
• 17:56
  I said, look, we're right here. I mean, like, his Booth was down
• 18:01
  from mine and I, I said, is there any way I can just say
• 18:05
  hello there, and and this gal Ryan, who is wonderful who was
• 18:13
  giving me a bad time the whole time The show.
• 18:16
  She's like, yes, absolutely. So she just made it happen.
• 18:18
  And then Jackie, one of my folks over at the management company
• 18:22
  that I work with, she called Ryan, Ryan called them and said,
• 18:25
  yes, there. He's having a photo op, right
• 18:27
  now. Let's go.
• 18:28
  And so they pulled me out of that.
• 18:29
  We were doing a photo shoot with Matt and Ashley that.
• 18:31
  He come on, let's go and they run me over there and it, but it
• 18:34
  literally was like, if you've had that experience at the photo
• 18:38
  ops at a Comic Con where it's like five seconds.
• 18:40
  And I'm like, okay, smile. Boom, done.
• 18:42
  It was I was the same and I was trying to be respectful to
• 18:45
  because they cut me. Front of people.
• 18:46
  I was like I don't want to be the guy that gets kind of you
• 18:48
  know, like I didn't want to cut in front of people for the
• 18:51
  picture, but I went in and I said hello there.
• 18:55
  I'm James Arnold Taylor. I do the voice of Obi-Wan in the
• 18:57
  Clone Wars and he said, oh yeah, great.
• 18:58
  And he was so sweet and then he said, I've been having to
• 19:02
  squeeze my name under yours all day on autographs.
• 19:06
  I'm like I'm sorry. You know, if people tell me that
• 19:10
  you're going to because most of the time, people would come in
• 19:12
  and say, like what they'll do is, they'll bring me a pop and
• 19:15
  they'll go. Can you sign on the side?
• 19:17
  Because I'm gonna get you into sign on the front.
• 19:18
  That I'll be like, okay, you know, I figure named I get it
• 19:21
  okay, but I guess I found out that somebody had to had me sign
• 19:26
  across a whole thing of Obi-Wan, and then they had him sign it
• 19:29
  afterwards and it was kind of their way of going James, is my
• 19:33
  Obi-Wan, it was very sweet, but at the same time, it may have
• 19:37
  made, you know, Obi-Wan one that Matt it'll be 12.
• 19:41
  So when we saw the pictures We were just like everyone was so
• 19:48
  excited that the two worlds. Finally.
• 19:50
  Yeah, and it's crazy that it would take that long.
• 19:54
  I was at a, it was a 35th anniversary of Empire Strikes
• 19:57
  Back. And we were both added.
• 19:58
  It was a red carpet event, and I'm on the carpet and I'm
• 20:02
  signing an autograph for a little kid.
• 20:04
  Who's this? Big Obi-Wan fan and then the kid
• 20:06
  looks over and goes, it's you and McGregor.
• 20:08
  And then they, it was like a cartoon where the, you know, the
• 20:11
  dust goes and I'm left completely alone and I didn't
• 20:16
  get to meet him there, but I spent most of that night with
• 20:19
  his stunt double and I looked at the guy and I said, you know,
• 20:22
  between us. We make one Ewan McGregor.
• 20:24
  Yeah, you're the body. I'm the voice.
• 20:28
  Yes. But it what?
• 20:32
  But, you know, honestly to get back to the question that I've
• 20:34
  completely abandoned their sorry.
• 20:36
  No. Is that all those years?
• 20:39
  We never knew he would come back and I was taking the character
• 20:43
  and trying to make it my own and trying to pay Proper omage to he
• 20:47
  and Sir Alec Guinness and I just have been honored to be a part
• 20:50
  of it. So I'm humbled and blessed to be
• 20:53
  any part of Obi-Wan Kenobi because such a special
• 20:55
  character, he really is, you've played him the longest out of
• 20:58
  anybody. I have that's that part is it's
• 21:01
  really hard because I'll say that and people are like, oh,
• 21:03
  look at he's bragging, it's like, I'm not I'm actually
• 21:05
  amazed and humbled by it, but I also try to kind of show that
• 21:10
  when people think that voice actors are just kind of people
• 21:12
  doing funny voices in closets. It's like no, it Does mean
• 21:16
  something we're character actors into?
• 21:18
  Hopefully we portray a character so much so that you don't think
• 21:20
  about us. You think about the character.
• 21:22
  So that's really My Hope Is that people think of Obi-Wan as his
• 21:26
  own being, you know? I mean I think the three of us
• 21:28
  certainly do and, you know, we're all connected to him in a
• 21:32
  special way because of, you know, the writing that the
• 21:35
  development from from lucasfilm to the actors that are portrayed
• 21:38
  him. Hopefully and he's a neat
• 21:40
  character, he's a True Believer. You know, he's the one guy that
• 21:44
  is not Down without a fight, about what the force means, and
• 21:48
  who Anakin is and all of that. So dovetailing off of that.
• 21:53
  Yeah. Did you, he's the one guy who
• 21:55
  never cracked under all of the pressure under all of the hurt
• 22:00
  and the loss. And, you know, did you ever
• 22:03
  struggle to portray him versus how you think he would respond
• 22:08
  himself to a tragedy? Like, that's a great question
• 22:11
  because he's such a, there's so much depth there and we love him
• 22:14
  because he person Of ears, and you can be a good person at the
• 22:18
  end of the day, no matter how much loss, how much hurt, you
• 22:21
  know, you don't have to fall to the, to the darkness, you can
• 22:24
  come out how to, how do you translate that?
• 22:27
  I guess, you know, Dave, filoni and I would talk about this a
• 22:30
  lot in the studio and we would kind of take it apart.
• 22:33
  He gave us the freedom to really examine the characters and then
• 22:37
  kind of come back and go, you know, I feel like he would say
• 22:39
  this way or that way most of the time.
• 22:42
  And so we talked a lot about like, okay, this is You know,
• 22:46
  like I've said this before, I'm sure you've heard me say this
• 22:49
  before. I didn't watch a lot of one of
• 22:51
  my favorite Star Wars movies during the Clone Wars, which is
• 22:54
  Revenge of the Sith. I love Revenge of the Sith, I
• 22:56
  would watch it in pieces in portions at times, but for the
• 22:59
  most part, I'd try to, if I was about to go into a session, I
• 23:01
  wouldn't watch it because I need to be attack of the Clones
• 23:04
  Obi-Wan, you know, he doesn't know all of that.
• 23:07
  And so he holds onto the, the Jedi, in a way that nobody else
• 23:13
  does. I mean, obviously, you know,
• 23:15
  coma has made it beautiful to astatine with that.
• 23:18
  She would touch on that, but so there's that Temptation, you
• 23:22
  know, you can kill me, but you'll never destroy me.
• 23:25
  It takes strength to resist the dark side, only the weak,
• 23:28
  embrace it, that summed it up so much, and I was so grateful for
• 23:31
  that moment because that was where he's being pushed more
• 23:36
  than ever. And so yeah, you want to go.
• 23:42
  Well, you know, it's like when you're driving home and you're
• 23:44
  like, I should have said this, you know, Are you with somebody?
• 23:48
  And you wonder if all we want everyone, you know, he's well he
• 23:51
  doesn't like flying but you know, he's on his way back to
• 23:53
  the Jedi Temple. Early only I wasn't a Jedi.
• 23:56
  I would have ripped him, limb from limb and then I would have
• 24:00
  really told him off. I would have got into my
• 24:03
  gravelly voice and said, wait a second.
• 24:07
  No, but yeah, you have to, you have to contain that and that's
• 24:12
  isn't that the whole point of being a Jedi.
• 24:15
  So he Ali is, I mean, Yoda is a True Believer, too.
• 24:19
  But he's just so cool. He's just so nothing affects
• 24:22
  Yoda. You know, when we saw the first
• 24:24
  time when we see him and Dooku fight, oh my goodness.
• 24:28
  I mean, tears welled up in my eyes when I saw that happen
• 24:32
  because you thought this is this little grandfatherly or fatherly
• 24:36
  figure to Luke all those years. And now you see what he can do.
• 24:41
  Only one doesn't have moments like that, so he just has to
• 24:44
  consistently be there. And the closest we get to see is
• 24:48
  you know, the you know, you were my brother Anakin those moments?
• 24:52
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 24:54
  So yeah, I think that there's a lot bubbling underneath, but I
• 25:00
  think also, it's even in the way that he sent, Darth Maul off
• 25:08
  sent flying into The Ether. Well, the final, their final
• 25:12
  moment together, you know, which was just so beautiful.
• 25:16
  Awfully done where again, each one of these people dies in his
• 25:19
  arms, it's tragic and it's beautiful.
• 25:24
  So you know it's akin to any of the Kurosawa movies and stuff
• 25:27
  that George was so inspired by 2.
• 25:28
  So there's so much poetry Olive in all of it so I love getting
• 25:31
  the opportunity to play that character in that way but yeah
• 25:35
  it is interesting. I've never I've never except for
• 25:39
  with Satine saw that moment to where he might have lost it but
• 25:43
  and, and I'll say this about that.
• 25:45
  I You may have heard me say this before.
• 25:48
  I did not know until I walked in that day, what was going to
• 25:51
  happen because they would get us the scripts in the moment they
• 25:55
  would when we walked in, that's when they gave us the scripts
• 25:57
  because they were so secretive. And so I didn't know, Anna, new
• 26:01
  and a Graves who plays The Duchess Satine knew what was
• 26:04
  happening. I did not know until the very
• 26:05
  moment because I still thought Anakin will come in and you know
• 26:11
  save the day or something. Right?
• 26:13
  Something's going to happen which I I think was great for me
• 26:17
  as the actor playing it. Because then when I was saying
• 26:20
  those lines, you know, I it was it meant something.
• 26:23
  And then when he whispers Satine under his breath and stuff,
• 26:26
  those were little ad-libs, those weren't in the script that was
• 26:29
  just me. Reacting and responding to, that
• 26:33
  makes me want to cry that. Yeah.
• 26:35
  Oh, heartbreaking enough. Sorry I guess I should have said
• 26:39
  spoiler alert for anybody but you know this is very few
• 26:42
  people. Although I was I was at the show
• 26:47
  this last weekend and this guy says you my girlfriend is just
• 26:50
  watching it were in season 2 and I'm like oh she was at the panel
• 26:53
  earlier, right? Oh yeah, because we referenced
• 26:56
  stuff. Yeah.
• 26:58
  Someone just said this to me about Rogue one the other day.
• 27:00
  They're like, I didn't know they died at the end.
• 27:02
  I'm like did you not see the movie and years ago later on
• 27:12
  chances are yeah. Yeah.
• 27:14
  I was I was very fortunate to do.
• 27:16
  Voices in all five of the last Star Wars movies.
• 27:18
  And Rogue one was one of my favorite ones to do.
• 27:20
  I've wanted to ask you, what can you like point out where you
• 27:24
  are? Because I've listened to, I can
• 27:25
  pick out Sam Witwer, I know where he is.
• 27:28
  So of course, honking Sam Witwer.
• 27:31
  You can have like 1970s that classic.
• 27:35
  Yeah, exactly clone he and David Coleman Hazard as well.
• 27:40
  I'm sorry. David Collins, David Collins,
• 27:42
  forgive me, David Collins, they both did a lot of the Is and I
• 27:47
  did a lot of voices in there. I believe I am commence primary
• 27:52
  ignition, you know, ice which is pretty special for some reason.
• 27:58
  They didn't use the original audio recordings and so they had
• 28:03
  us all do that at Matthew Wood, who is, of course, the genius
• 28:06
  sound designer behind all of that and then, of course,
• 28:08
  General Grievous in the battle droids and so he would have each
• 28:11
  of us. Do different things.
• 28:12
  And I was that I was a lot of the guys being By Vader.
• 28:18
  I was I was transferred I mean my voice is throughout the whole
• 28:24
  movie. Like so essentially what we
• 28:25
  would do is they bring us in a few months before the movie
• 28:28
  would come out and they we'd go through the whole film in a day
• 28:33
  or two days. Sometimes it would take two days
• 28:36
  for these films and we would, you know, there was a group of
• 28:38
  us and usually, Sam and myself and David Collins and, and Fred
• 28:44
  tatasciore. Who's a brilliant voice actor.
• 28:46
  And all these other folks, Tom Kane was always there with us
• 28:50
  and Vanessa Marshall, was there, I think for maybe for rogue one
• 28:54
  but certainly for the last Skywalker films, the last couple
• 28:59
  and Steve Bloom, of course was there.
• 29:02
  And so it was all these. And so the other thing we would
• 29:04
  do you have to really listen I don't know if you can hear it at
• 29:07
  all, but we would they'd have us do like, okay, you're in a room
• 29:11
  and there's like the casino scene and was it rises,
• 29:14
  Skywalker. No, it was It was last last,
• 29:17
  Last Jedi. Yes, yes, I'm sorry.
• 29:19
  And I was the little place. Your bets.
• 29:20
  Place your bets. You know, the little guy on the
• 29:21
  table. Yes.
• 29:23
  But so they would have us do like these alien sounds and
• 29:26
  things and they you Linus shop and then each person steps up to
• 29:29
  the mic and does like five seconds of, you know, Wala what
• 29:32
  we call Walla. So it would be like that.
• 29:36
  So we would take our names and put them in.
• 29:39
  So I would go. What was that?
• 29:41
  Last time we had, why are, you know, and I would sneak Sam's
• 29:44
  name in there and then He come out and go damn Donatello.
• 29:50
  I'm like, sneak these names into.
• 29:55
  So if you listen carefully you may hear some of that.
• 29:59
  You know, we're going to do that like I mean as if we need an
• 30:04
  excuse to why we love here, it really, you know really is
• 30:11
  brilliant one. There of combining the world's
• 30:15
  in a way. No other film has been able to
• 30:17
  do I think so far. And or I think is doing a pretty
• 30:20
  good job of that as well. But yes, I love that show but
• 30:23
  that scene with Vader at the end of Rogue one.
• 30:26
  They kept that for the end of the day and everybody was
• 30:30
  literally choked up watching it. It was so powerful after
• 30:33
  especially somebody like myself that, you know, I'm an old man
• 30:36
  ladies. So I was around, when when Star
• 30:38
  Wars originally came out, we, you know, my impression of Darth
• 30:43
  Vader holding the guy up and you know where those plans Ends.
• 30:47
  That was my first experience with Darth Vader.
• 30:50
  So it immediately put me right back there and that's the moment
• 30:54
  just before that. It's like, are you kidding me?
• 30:56
  Come on crazy. It's I lost it.
• 30:59
  I still lose it. Every time I see that scene,
• 31:01
  it's just so yeah, impactful in one and a half minutes or
• 31:06
  whatever some odd seconds. Yeah.
• 31:08
  It's just so it's great for sprinkled in there.
• 31:11
  That's great o throughout the whole movie you'll hear yellow
• 31:14
  bits and pieces of our voices. Yeah.
• 31:15
  All over. It's hard to say specifically,
• 31:18
  like in Solo, I'm in the opening.
• 31:21
  Well, after the opening scene and then he goes back to the
• 31:24
  place where all the little kids are.
• 31:25
  I'm a couple of little kids, I'm doing, like a little British
• 31:27
  accent, young kids, you know, saying stuff, David Copperfield,
• 31:31
  and then, and then there's the big bald guy that's in the Droid
• 31:38
  area where they're fighting. The droids are fighting it.
• 31:41
  All right, come on. And it was Hank, it was
• 31:42
  basically hang for my podcast is doing a voice like They come on.
• 31:46
  All right, bring them bring it in.
• 31:47
  All right. You know credits over here and
• 31:51
  it's just finished eating his onion sandwich.
• 31:53
  That's right. Hello.
• 31:55
  But so yeah and then all sorts of different creatures and
• 31:59
  characters in good guys. And bad guys throughout all five
• 32:02
  of those films. It's a lot of fun.
• 32:03
  I think it's really great because it's really rewarding
• 32:05
  for people like us who are like really obsessed with voice
• 32:07
  actors because they're so talented.
• 32:09
  I mean, look at like the The Craze around bad batch, you
• 32:12
  know, it's gets it hear, voices that you then are like, Wait a
• 32:16
  minute, I know that. And as had that experience, when
• 32:19
  I heard you for the first time on Fox, I was like, wait a
• 32:21
  minute. I know who that is Simpsons,
• 32:26
  family guy. Yeah.
• 32:28
  You know, it's all it's all just Obi-Wan variations of what we
• 32:30
  want. No but yeah.
• 32:32
  It see, Bradley Baker is truly just a brilliant man and
• 32:36
  sweetheart of a guy and he's so wonderful.
• 32:39
  And I'm so happy for him with bad batch to because yeah, he's
• 32:42
  when at the 15th anniversary panel.
• 32:45
  Yeah. When I think he actually said
• 32:48
  I'm amongst some of the greatest voice actors and I'm thinking,
• 32:51
  dude, you're up there too. At this point, put yourself in
• 32:54
  that category because he brings another love.
• 32:58
  I, how do you do? I mean, you all these clouds
• 33:02
  like that? It's yeah.
• 33:04
  That's the that's again. Where I think when people don't
• 33:07
  think that voice acting is acting, it's like well you take
• 33:10
  one voice, but you show all these variations of character
• 33:13
  and different people and different emotions but That's a
• 33:16
  true, you know, power of voice acting and what you can do with
• 33:21
  it. So he's he's really brilliant at
• 33:23
  it and he's humble and, you know, we all see ourselves as
• 33:27
  the luckiest people on the planet because DM myself,
• 33:29
  really, both always wanted to do this.
• 33:32
  I've wanted to do this since I was four years old so most
• 33:35
  actors kind of stumble into voice acting.
• 33:37
  You know, like Mark Hamill great example, Mark, loved animation,
• 33:40
  loved comic books, loved all of that, but the beauty of being
• 33:44
  the most, arguably the most Do you know famous superhero
• 33:48
  character or hero on the planet is that then at some point you
• 33:52
  need to be able to do something outside of that.
• 33:54
  And so voiceover was a great escape for him.
• 33:56
  And even here I remember him telling me specifically of what
• 34:00
  we've known each other many many years, probably 20 plus years
• 34:02
  now. But I remember when we were
• 34:03
  first working together, we played, I played the the kid
• 34:07
  version of the character. He was playing the like old man
• 34:10
  version of he was doing the narration and it was telling a
• 34:13
  story. It was for some animated movie
• 34:15
  and He's sitting there and he says to me, he says, you remind
• 34:18
  me of me when I was younger and I was like, are you kidding me?
• 34:21
  I can, I can now die, but he's he was telling me stories and he
• 34:26
  said, I'm on the phone with my family, and I'm telling him that
• 34:29
  I'm the Joker. And they wouldn't believe me.
• 34:33
  So he's doing the voice for them and they're like, no, it's not
• 34:37
  you, it's really, it's fun. When we get to play like that,
• 34:43
  you know, I want to ask you about with voice acting up.
• 34:46
  Ticular, how much of it do you think is kind of being born with
• 34:48
  the right physiology and part of how much of it is?
• 34:51
  Like, learned skill? That is such a great question.
• 34:54
  And it's, I tend to lean towards the first, rather than the
• 34:58
  latter, you know, I my own story is kind of crazy.
• 35:04
  I never knew my father, and I didn't know that for most of my
• 35:08
  life and at 42, I found out who my real father was in.
• 35:11
  Then I found that my father was actually a DJ and a TV host and
• 35:15
  I Made a living with his voice, and I've never heard his voice.
• 35:20
  I've still been searching because he was a, he was a known
• 35:22
  DJ and Southern California, Northern California, and I've
• 35:26
  been trying to find audio of his voice, but it was back in the
• 35:29
  50s and 60s. But I know that I think I was
• 35:33
  born with some of that, that ability was there.
• 35:36
  And my vocal cords were there to be able to kind of morph them
• 35:40
  and change them into things. But also then just having that
• 35:42
  nerd brain to kind of go, you know, I want to do this voice or
• 35:45
  I want I do that voice right, you know, whatever, I see the
• 35:48
  person in my head and then they come out of my mouth is pretty
• 35:50
  much how it works. So, if I'm thinking of Hiccup
• 35:52
  from How to Train Your Dragon, and Jay Baruchel, who I've been
• 35:55
  the voice of for all the years. If it's been out, I picture Jay.
• 36:00
  I don't picture James, and then he comes out of my mouth, and
• 36:03
  that's the way it works. But so, I think you have to be
• 36:07
  born with some of that ability. But the acting skills and stuff,
• 36:10
  certainly can be learned because I know a lot of people with
• 36:12
  wonderful ability flexibility of their voice, but they may not
• 36:15
  have the Think ability and then they'll take classes and then
• 36:18
  they'll get better, and they'll go okay.
• 36:19
  And then they kind of find that a lot of that is coming out of
• 36:22
  your shell, but people like d and myself have no inhibitions
• 36:26
  about it. We don't care about making a
• 36:28
  funny face or looking silly to get a noise out.
• 36:30
  I mean, if you've seen Dee Bradley Baker, perform, he pulls
• 36:33
  from all sorts of areas. It's amazing to watch.
• 36:38
  It really is. But and he says, you have to
• 36:40
  dial in your uvula, which always sounds a little wrong.
• 36:44
  But he's of course, right. Right.
• 36:48
  So yeah, his name in credits for movies where he just does, the
• 36:52
  animal voices or animal sounds and yeah.
• 36:55
  How do you even like? Yeah, yeah, all of us.
• 36:58
  Have a couple of little creatures in us that we can do
• 37:00
  from time to time but Dee and Frank Welker who was before him
• 37:04
  in this. And Frank is still out there
• 37:06
  doing it. He's Scooby-Doo and he's Freddy
• 37:08
  from Scooby Doo and all those and pretty much in every Disney
• 37:11
  movie ever made. He was remember the sand in
• 37:15
  Aladdin at the opening. Opened comes up and turns into
• 37:17
  that like that tiger the lion there.
• 37:19
  And who are you? You're all that.
• 37:21
  That's Frank Welker and he just has an amazing ability and Andy
• 37:25
  certainly is as taken over for that and has gone into his own,
• 37:29
  but pretty much any creature. You could be, they can imagine
• 37:34
  it, you can imagine, they can be, I should say.
• 37:36
  So it's amazing to watch so yeah, pretty neat.
• 37:40
  That's truly really interesting. It's so cool to hear it from the
• 37:44
  other side because yeah, speculate how How hard or how
• 37:46
  difficult, or how talented it must be, you know.
• 37:49
  Yeah. Involved in this.
• 37:50
  And then it's it's really cool to hear that you've wanted to do
• 37:53
  it for so long. Yeah, it's all I've ever really
• 37:57
  dreamed of doing was doing voices.
• 37:58
  When I was four years old, I found out that you know Mel
• 38:02
  Blanc was a guy in a little room on a microphone and I was like,
• 38:05
  okay I like that and I started doing, you know, and what's up
• 38:10
  doc, you know, and duck season wet season, you know, and all
• 38:13
  that. Where's the Kaboom there?
• 38:16
  Supposed to be an earth-shattering Kaboom.
• 38:19
  Oh you know chicken hawk and you're like chicken you know,
• 38:23
  and Foghorn Leghorn and yes that station.
• 38:27
  No, no, son, you got it all wrong.
• 38:29
  Got to keep your eye on the ball.
• 38:31
  Yeah. So you know, I I just loved all
• 38:34
  of those and I just gravitated towards it and you know, I so I
• 38:39
  do think that there is a portion of that like you know like
• 38:42
  somebody that is into science. They gravitate towards those
• 38:44
  things or or math or Or or anything, you know.
• 38:47
  So I think you're born with a lot of it.
• 38:51
  I think it's beautiful that a lot of people love voice acting
• 38:53
  do and want to do it, but it can water down the market.
• 38:58
  There's an ancient I watched a movie years ago.
• 39:00
  Play, pause rewind, or something else.
• 39:02
  Something to that effect about art and with all of this online
• 39:06
  art and all of these things, it's wonderful that it's out
• 39:08
  there. It's more recognized, but it's
• 39:10
  sad because a lot of it gets watered down in the real talent
• 39:13
  needs to still rise up. And But I still see that as the
• 39:17
  case, you see some amazingly talented people come up and the
• 39:20
  beauty then of things like having all this social media
• 39:24
  stuff out there is that you can find some kid in his basement,
• 39:27
  doing a voice and all of the next thing you know he can
• 39:30
  become something because of it. So that's that's pretty neat if
• 39:33
  they have that inherent talents. Oh yeah, well sure, we got to
• 39:36
  ask you. Yes you've, you've laid all this
• 39:40
  out. So when it comes to rako,
• 39:44
  hardeen, I was gonna say I know where this is going.
• 39:47
  Oh, right? Yeah, we spent.
• 39:50
  Was it a whole episode or a series of episodes?
• 39:53
  It's the one thing that comes back around and because it was
• 39:58
  such a pivotal moment in what ends up happening?
• 40:02
  Yeah, Anakin down the line of questioning of the order even
• 40:06
  Satine, is crying at your supposed funeral.
• 40:09
  Yeah. That wasn't a funeral at all.
• 40:11
  We never elaborate on this. But that, yes, we are.
• 40:16
  We are getting to citynet but rako hardeen yes, rako hardeen.
• 40:22
  First of all, I had no idea that was you the first time I heard
• 40:26
  it? Well, you know, so there's a
• 40:27
  story behind that to. I don't know if you've heard,
• 40:29
  but neither did George Lucas, and that was intentional.
• 40:33
  So George said, I don't want James to play rako hardeen,
• 40:38
  because I don't want their voices to be similar in any way.
• 40:41
  And Dave, God bless him, knew that I could do it.
• 40:44
  And so he I was like, no, no, don't, don't worry.
• 40:47
  So I come in that day and I get the script and I again we get it
• 40:51
  as, you know, I'm in the lobby looking and I'm like, well gosh,
• 40:54
  there's all these this rako guy. Am I Rekha?
• 40:57
  Okay, I'm doing all this and I had had a particularly bad day
• 41:01
  with my allergies that day and so, my voice was naturally
• 41:06
  deeper. And so here's the crazy thing
• 41:08
  that whole episode, I voiced, both Obi-Wan and Reiko.
• 41:11
  And I had to come back in and redo, most of Obi-Wan's lines in
• 41:15
  that episode. Because I had such a like an
• 41:18
  allergy sounding voice, but it was perfect for doing rako
• 41:21
  hardeen. So it was gave me this depth in
• 41:26
  my voice and so they played it for for George later and they
• 41:30
  said, so what do you think of these?
• 41:31
  Oh yeah, that's great. And I said, it's James and so,
• 41:36
  I, they, I fool George Lucas, which was pretty good.
• 41:39
  I was always pleased aggressive, but there's this moment where
• 41:43
  after he's taken the vocal, yeah, Yeah.
• 41:46
  Where are you? Kind of blend the two did you
• 41:48
  actually have to blend it? Or did they do that with?
• 41:51
  No, that was me. I was like I want to do this.
• 41:53
  I don't want you guys to be like changing it.
• 41:56
  So yeah, it was just kind of moving it down it around and
• 42:00
  into battle area area and then doing that and just, you know,
• 42:04
  changing the voice around. So yeah, it was and then the
• 42:08
  trick was when and I've heard the two of you talked about this
• 42:11
  before to the trick is, when it's Reiko.
• 42:16
  He's been, he has to have some of Ben's stuff.
• 42:20
  So what I would do is I would hear it in my head, like,
• 42:23
  Obi-Wan. So, you know, hello, this has
• 42:26
  been, you know, and he would say that and then I would say hello.
• 42:28
  This is Ben, and so I would there's a little of him in
• 42:33
  there. So, that was the trick, amazing.
• 42:37
  Thanks. Yeah.
• 42:45
  It was a lot. Lot of fun and it's just one of
• 42:48
  those characters that I think would be fun to see more of you
• 42:52
  know that character is what happens to him Arc is it's all
• 42:58
  over the place first. You're bald we didn't get a
• 43:01
  chance to like digest that yeah the Veer.
• 43:04
  And then how long did that take to come?
• 43:06
  Because the next step and I said the next episode of, you know,
• 43:09
  I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna have a full beard and
• 43:11
  hair. It's gonna be fire the force.
• 43:14
  You just use the force. That's right.
• 43:16
  But we've been going, I willed it to come out.
• 43:19
  There's just so many things in that a whole Arc, and it's such
• 43:22
  a surprise because it's so, you know, the puzzles that they have
• 43:26
  to get through any still relies and that's what gives them away.
• 43:30
  He relies on his kindness and the teamwork, we have to get
• 43:32
  this done together and helping one another and it gives them
• 43:36
  away in the end but it's it, the mental gymnastics.
• 43:40
  Yeah. Well, and, you know, another
• 43:42
  question, Matt got at this last con was do you think Think the
• 43:46
  death of Obi-Wan, that that fake death of Obi-Wan scarred,
• 43:49
  Anakin, and yes, created some of it as well.
• 43:53
  Like gosh, I eyes, I hope not. I'm sorry, how was my funeral?
• 43:59
  I just remember that, you know, but the teen was tore up.
• 44:04
  Oh yeah, she was in shambles, cruel joke, all to.
• 44:08
  I will say this. I don't know if I've shared this
• 44:10
  before with y'all, but when we did that episode when we
• 44:14
  recorded, Matt always stood. Next to me.
• 44:17
  And then so it was myself and Matt and then Corey Burton who
• 44:20
  is CAD Bane and Count Dooku and Ziro the Hutt.
• 44:23
  He's a legendary voice actor. He's amazing amazing.
• 44:27
  In fact, if you watch Ted lasso he was just on the last episode
• 44:31
  of Ted lasso. His voice was featured.
• 44:33
  Highly. Yeah, it was really he does
• 44:35
  classic. He and I both do a lot of the
• 44:37
  classic old announcer voices, you know, kind of one of these,
• 44:40
  you know, and so Cory. Cory is on one side of Matt.
• 44:44
  I'm on the other side of Matt and Matt, It does the Obi-Wan oh
• 44:48
  we want, you know, and and we're both choked up, it was because
• 44:53
  Matt went there like it, it's it's one word it's just a name
• 44:58
  but he put so much emotion and depth into that in that moment
• 45:03
  when he screaming that out you know it was really it was
• 45:08
  something to watch but it's also such a credit to Matt Lanter as
• 45:11
  an actor you know I mean he's he's a brilliant actor and I
• 45:13
  hope and pray that he gets. It's more opportunities to show
• 45:17
  people that, in many ways outside of even Star Wars
• 45:20
  because what an incredible actor he is.
• 45:23
  So yeah. But to be able to take all that
• 45:26
  emotion of every movie that we've seen so far and everything
• 45:29
  and put it into him just shouting out his master's name.
• 45:33
  You know, his brothers. Yeah.
• 45:35
  And it just it conveyed so much and I remember Corey and I both
• 45:39
  just looking to go on. Wow, that says it all and and
• 45:42
  you know, and plus I was just like I'm not dead though, right?
• 45:45
  Like, guys, I'm going to come back next week.
• 45:50
  Okay. Right.
• 45:51
  Yeah. It was very interesting.
• 45:53
  Yes. Beard at all.
• 45:56
  It's all good. All there.
• 45:57
  Yes. They put him in some back to
• 46:00
  tank or something. Yeah.
• 46:04
  Actually if I'm a Segway. Yes, from the beard Satine.
• 46:09
  Does enjoy the beard? Yes.
• 46:12
  See what I did there. I say yes.
• 46:13
  Look at that. When we got it, right?
• 46:17
  Well, Lauren specializes in Satine and Obi-Wan, I would like
• 46:21
  to say more. Yes, I'm a resident expert.
• 46:24
  Yes, yes. So you agree with me then that
• 46:29
  there should be a musical of Satine and Yes, please Ashley.
• 46:36
  And I have been trying to get that for years since season 3.
• 46:40
  We've been saying a Broadway musical of Obi-Wan and Satine
• 46:43
  and their younger years. Wouldn't that be amazing?
• 46:44
  Oh my God, you'd have people. Sobbing in the audience from one
• 46:48
  of our, one of our patrons, what actually said, like, what are
• 46:51
  the chances that Satine and Obi-Wan could pop up and tales
• 46:55
  of the Jedi? Wouldn't it be a good
• 46:56
  background? Look, here's my idea.
• 46:59
  Okay, James just take take this to Dave, please make it happen.
• 47:04
  We need an animated series, doesn't have to be long, but
• 47:07
  just of Obi-Wan and steen's, backstory.
• 47:10
  I like what you're going so far. Yes, you play op1.
• 47:13
  She placed the teen and a place of pain.
• 47:15
  And then, you know, we could get Liam Neeson to come play
• 47:17
  Qui-Gon. I'm sure why not?
• 47:19
  It's animated please. I know, I know.
• 47:23
  But now you ins back. He'll be like, I think I want to
• 47:26
  do, he just will get, Kate Winslet, or Kate Blanchet and
• 47:31
  you know, they'll I would love would love to see that.
• 47:37
  I don't know if they realize the folks at Disney realize and
• 47:41
  lucasfilm how powerful that would actually be.
• 47:45
  You know, we joke us up with all seriousness to tell that story I
• 47:49
  think would really be special and mean a lot to a lot of
• 47:52
  people. I really do think that, you
• 47:54
  know, whether I was involved or not.
• 47:55
  I think it would be really special.
• 47:56
  I was really hopeful that they were going to actually explore
• 47:59
  some of that in the Kenobi series.
• 48:01
  And I was kind of sad that they didn't that there's really No
• 48:04
  mention of Satine. So not at all.
• 48:06
  Yeah, there's no mention of Ahsoka either even when at the
• 48:09
  end. Yeah, the last stand with Vader.
• 48:12
  /, Anakin there and which they're even mirroring the the
• 48:16
  to, yeah, Sokka. And both sides of the mask and
• 48:20
  everything. You know, it would have been
• 48:21
  perfect. Just a slide.
• 48:23
  What would a Soaker of think of you?
• 48:24
  Yeah or something? Yeah, it's all good, but, you
• 48:28
  know, we all we have these headcanons.
• 48:30
  It's just leaving room for it to expand in the future.
• 48:34
  Yeah, I hope they see the power of that, you know, It's tricky
• 48:38
  because there are two different worlds there.
• 48:40
  There's the Animated World and there's a live-action world and
• 48:43
  never the twain shall meet a lot of times in the bigger, you
• 48:48
  know, scheme of things. And so I hope that they really
• 48:51
  see how much people would love to see that.
• 48:53
  Even gosh. I mean, there's so many things
• 48:56
  they could do with that and just open it up in many ways.
• 48:58
  But I think like, you're saying an animated series would be the
• 49:01
  most, I think, the best way to do.
• 49:03
  Because they're paid. Proper omage to the testicle and
• 49:06
  more. So yeah, I think so too.
• 49:08
  Plus we would all love to see ya.
• 49:10
  Actors back together. Yeah.
• 49:12
  Be really want to. Yeah, it would be neat.
• 49:15
  There's so many different ways you can tell that story.
• 49:17
  Literally can't watch the Lawless without crying every now
• 49:20
  and then, I'm like, I'll just watch an episode of Clone Wars
• 49:22
  with dinner. I'll put that on out.
• 49:23
  I'm like, crying into my plate, it's it's really hard because
• 49:27
  people will ask me what's your favorite?
• 49:28
  And I will say that it's bittersweet but because I'm so,
• 49:33
  I'm so proud. The acting.
• 49:34
  But I'm also so thrilled with the acting from my castmates and
• 49:37
  stuff, to Sam was brilliant and Anna and Clancy.
• 49:42
  And yeah, it's an All-Star in the worst of ways.
• 49:44
  Like it really the most horrible of circumstances.
• 49:48
  Yeah. And Ian, Ian Ambercrombie as
• 49:51
  well, you know. So yeah, it was just his last
• 49:54
  episode. It was.
• 49:55
  Yeah. And he was in studio with us in.
• 49:57
  So yeah, I was Ian was a brilliant.
• 50:00
  Just wonderful man. I don't know if either of your
• 50:02
  Seinfeld fans but you know, he wants to Yes, absolutely.
• 50:05
  We love mr. He was, he was just a joy.
• 50:09
  He was a joy. It was true.
• 50:11
  I think they were saying at the celebration 12 of how he could
• 50:14
  flip on a dime. I think Dee was saying that, you
• 50:16
  know, change and go from from good to bad, but he was such a
• 50:21
  joy to be around. And so that was a special
• 50:24
  episode in many ways. Yeah.
• 50:25
  And also seeing the emperor turning the way he did in that
• 50:28
  to and so, yeah, powerful stuff. We got to really accomplish so
• 50:32
  much in just a little Little cartoon, you know, a 22-minute
• 50:35
  cartoon each week so yeah, we prefer animation.
• 50:39
  Yes. So I have, you know, I wrote a
• 50:47
  script for a movie that that I've been talking about for a
• 50:50
  couple of years ago, about a year and a half now called the
• 50:52
  comic shop and I just finished making a movie that I had
• 50:56
  written before that with the hopes.
• 50:57
  That if I get this movie out there and it gets enough
• 50:59
  attention, I can make enough money to then make the comic
• 51:02
  shop and there's in some changes to the comic shop.
• 51:04
  In fact, what I'm hoping to do, I've not said this anywhere yet.
• 51:07
  So I'm giving you an exclusive is that I've Rewritten, the main
• 51:13
  character in it, and I wrote it for Ashley.
• 51:17
  And so, what we're hoping to do is have a clone wars reunions as
• 51:22
  all of the main actors in this movie, the comic shop Clone Wars
• 51:26
  actors. That was.
• 51:27
  So that's my, that's my hope that's my dream.
• 51:30
  That's what I'm trying to do right now.
• 51:31
  And so, I don't know. Do I start like a Fundraising
• 51:34
  thing or something. But anyway, so we're going to
• 51:36
  try to do that. But in this movie, I've written
• 51:39
  this joke many times and it's a running joke, is that somebody
• 51:42
  will say cartoon and then say animated, it's animated,
• 51:45
  animated series, please. So yes.
• 51:48
  So I yes, we are absolutely on the same page, so there you go.
• 51:54
  That's fantastic. Well, I wanted to ask you to
• 51:56
  like, how did your perception of Obi-Wan change?
• 51:59
  Once they introduced the team because up to that point he was
• 52:01
  kind of I was kind of called him.
• 52:03
  A touching Mother where he was. I was just disapproving and I
• 52:07
  know Anakin. Yeah, he's started to evolve a
• 52:10
  little more starting at like Point rain and then they
• 52:13
  introduced you and shortly after that.
• 52:15
  So it was really neat to be able to explore that.
• 52:20
  You know. That's a technical term really
• 52:22
  cute but it was neat. Oh no, it was fantastic.
• 52:26
  Because I was like, wait a second, we can't attachments.
• 52:30
  And what? What, and that's when we really
• 52:33
  started to see, George was going to do stuff very differently
• 52:36
  with this series. He was going to get to show
• 52:38
  people parts of Star Wars that we never got to see before, just
• 52:41
  like the mortise Arc introduced us more into new ways of the
• 52:43
  force. This was, you know, even before
• 52:46
  that introducing us into a part of Obi-Wan Kenobi's life that we
• 52:50
  never could have imagined. And I just thought it was
• 52:53
  fantastic. It was so much fun and Anna was
• 52:56
  so great. So it was, it was a great
• 52:59
  experience and it just I remember just the flood gates
• 53:01
  opening in my brain then and going.
• 53:03
  Oh, whoa. Look at all this.
• 53:04
  You can do with this in there like okay, calm down James.
• 53:06
  But yeah, I was just like because I was saying that all
• 53:09
  we're gonna do flashbacks, we're gonna see that.
• 53:11
  We gotta see that, you know? And so it was a wonderful way
• 53:15
  and those are some of my favorite episodes again just
• 53:17
  because of of Anna's performance but also just the Cinematic
• 53:21
  nature of those episodes, all of them are always like that but
• 53:24
  those particularly took us in and you know, mean look, if we
• 53:26
  don't have those episodes, do we have the Mandalorian right now?
• 53:29
  I don't know if we do, right? I mean we've been saying it.
• 53:32
  So Everyone was spazzing out with Mandalorian when they
• 53:36
  showed that City Courtyard and I was like anyone who's watched
• 53:40
  Clone Wars knows that's where 0, b, 1 b 2 T and this is old hat
• 53:43
  here. Yeah, yeah.
• 53:46
  So it I think it's really important.
• 53:49
  I think it's also really important to all of the even the
• 53:53
  prequels and such of Anakin and Padme story.
• 53:57
  I think it's it's just so great. It was wonderful that Matt and I
• 54:00
  get to have that scene where you know, he says I understand You
• 54:03
  know to degree, which we going through and all that, you know,
• 54:07
  and I'm just glad that we got to do it.
• 54:11
  I'm glad that it's such a big part of it and that it's all
• 54:14
  Canon. So yeah, it is kind of nice on
• 54:18
  the flip side that there is a little mystery with it and I
• 54:21
  think that's what draws people to it.
• 54:22
  Is that we can come up with all kinds of theories about how it
• 54:26
  happened, how it came to be, what were introduced to in the
• 54:30
  Clone Wars. And there's just a little bit of
• 54:32
  that mystery and maybe we Want to mess with it but we want to
• 54:35
  but we're doing it in our heads. Anyway we would love to see ya
• 54:39
  but it it's it lends to something that Obi-Wan and
• 54:44
  Anakin can share. Yeah, I think and we talked to
• 54:48
  Lauren about the deleted scene in Revenge of the Sith.
• 54:51
  We're here. Oh yeah.
• 54:52
  Where he where Obi-Wan says, you know, it's the one thing that
• 54:55
  made Anakin happy was Padme and he knew that and he knew all
• 54:59
  along and maybe he knew what that felt like because astatine,
• 55:02
  I don't know it's this whole Thing that's beautiful.
• 55:05
  Yeah, but we love that they made that can.
• 55:07
  And now to the over one new and finally in season seven, I got
• 55:12
  ya. I hope you said hello there.
• 55:14
  Yeah. Well I Rex just wants left out
• 55:19
  of it. Oh yeah, I want no part of this.
• 55:25
  It's yeah, it's really fun but yeah, it really is important.
• 55:29
  I think to it to and I, you know, I love just the whole
• 55:31
  Romance of both Anakin and padmé.
• 55:33
  You in that storyline. And I love how fans connect with
• 55:36
  all of that. I think it's really important.
• 55:38
  It's it's important to the fairytale aspect of all of it to
• 55:41
  which I'm a big fan of, so yeah, oh yeah, we're here to escape.
• 55:46
  Yeah. Even if there is a little
• 55:48
  realness, in all of this Galactic made up stuff like this
• 55:52
  constant heartbreak, but we're here for it.
• 55:55
  Yes. Fun to have a prince and a
• 55:58
  princess, you know, Finding for each other every once in a
• 56:01
  while. Yes, but yeah.
• 56:02
  So well, yeah. Yeah, no.
• 56:04
  So and I know Anna would love to see more of it to.
• 56:06
  She's an has wonderful. She's been so kind to us as well
• 56:10
  through social media. She's yeah, she's wonderful,
• 56:12
  she's talented. I'm telling you.
• 56:14
  It's a talented group. It is, we are so fortunate to
• 56:17
  have so many amazing voice actors in that grand.
• 56:20
  We're doing another show soon. I think in Indianapolis
• 56:23
  Indianapolis TC Carson who is Mace Windu is going to be
• 56:27
  joining us there. And fill them are who denied
• 56:30
  bail Organa and Kit Fisto and many Their characters throughout
• 56:34
  the season. So, that was the thing is, they
• 56:36
  would always bring in characters and actors like Jim Cummings,
• 56:39
  and Phil to come in and just fill in all those things.
• 56:42
  Yeah, we yeah, it is. He's absolutely one of my heroes
• 56:49
  invoice. He and Billy, West, both, you
• 56:51
  know, kind of were the ones that took the mantle of people like
• 56:54
  Don Messick and Mel Blanc and Daws Butler before them and took
• 56:58
  that and turned it into stuff that I grew up watching and then
• 57:00
  are still now out there doing it.
• 57:02
  And they just have a major Amazing voices in ranges and
• 57:06
  they're wonderful people. So yeah, Jim Jim is a great
• 57:08
  example. I've said this before of how you
• 57:11
  can take a character, that is maybe going to be on a show one
• 57:14
  time. And make everybody love them so
• 57:16
  much. They keep bringing them back and
• 57:17
  that's what it was with Hondo. Absolutely, he took the script
• 57:21
  and he just kind of went. Okay, no, I'm going to do this
• 57:23
  and I'm going to change it and he just started add living and
• 57:27
  Dave was just like this is fantastic.
• 57:29
  Yeah, my favorite Honda moment, I'm flying.
• 57:36
  Just the key like Kenobi, just like yeah, lastname basis.
• 57:42
  Only, you know, like old strike old friends, you know?
• 57:44
  Just because you end up locked in his head is that it doesn't.
• 57:50
  And I remember the funny cinnamon Daniel Logan, of course
• 57:54
  young Boba was in the studio and he got to play him in Congress
• 57:58
  as well. And he's there right next to Jim
• 57:59
  Cummings. The first day and Jim's doing
• 58:01
  all these voices and stuff and Daniel doesn't know Oh who he
• 58:04
  is. Which is, you know I mean how
• 58:05
  would he know? You know, is right and he goes,
• 58:07
  you're amazing. You should do video games and
• 58:09
  cartoons and stuff. I don't know what Daniel, that's
• 58:13
  a legend right there. But yeah, and Jim is just again,
• 58:20
  so humble and kinds of cool. Thanks, you know?
• 58:24
  But it we had a lot of fun. So is, is Dave filoni as genuine
• 58:29
  as we think he is not alone No, Dave Davis is such a, you know,
• 58:39
  fan of Epic storytelling. Not just in, you know, I think
• 58:43
  most of the time when we were in the studio he would he would be
• 58:46
  recalling The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.
• 58:49
  You know, again, like when he said to me, he said one word to
• 58:54
  me with poke him and he said Gandalf and so I just knew to do
• 58:58
  Jedi Master, Plo Koon has in the Kellerman died, was what I did.
• 59:02
  So that's that, by the way is closed.
• 59:03
  Khun, untreated. So, without any, you know, pitch
• 59:07
  down or the mask effect put on it.
• 59:09
  This is how I would coat OD. A little Soka.
• 59:13
  But so Dave is just a lover of story and storytelling, and he
• 59:20
  would come in, and he would just tell us, he would come in and
• 59:24
  go, let's talk Star Wars. And so, I do my, I do my Dave
• 59:27
  filoni impression. Do I really?
• 59:30
  Dave would always do George. So I figure look, Imitation is
• 59:34
  the highest form of flattery and you would always give George
• 59:36
  Button, he's coming her, okay? So you need to do is George
• 59:39
  Lucas. So I'm now doing my day filoni
• 59:42
  kind of, you know, in jest as well but we would spend about a
• 59:47
  half hour before we would record.
• 59:49
  And he would tell us all the stories of what was going to
• 59:51
  happen that episode and he'd show us art and he would expand
• 59:54
  upon it and he would just love telling us all of that.
• 59:59
  And so I'm very very excited by what was announced in
• 1:00:01
  celebration that he's getting too.
• 1:00:03
  Make a movie, something that we've all known for a very long
• 1:00:05
  time, is that he should be directing Star Wars films and
• 1:00:09
  enjoying all things Star Wars. So we're lucky to have them in
• 1:00:12
  that world and I think that it's wonderful to see him.
• 1:00:16
  Get that attention. Yeah, I've been route, he's a
• 1:00:19
  HomeTown hero. We're from the same area grew up
• 1:00:22
  in the same area and he we both have the same Pittsburgh
• 1:00:26
  Penguins shirt. He's wearing I was going to ask.
• 1:00:28
  So yes, if you are a fan media photo for the Mandalorian and
• 1:00:33
  Said that was not an easy shirt to get.
• 1:00:36
  It was like a limited release. And I guarantee if only myself
• 1:00:42
  and Dave filoni would know this because.
• 1:00:44
  Yeah, the shirt was for the Stanley Cup.
• 1:00:47
  So, yeah, he's just, he's just a, I'm rooting for him on a much
• 1:00:53
  larger and more personal scale. So I just am so envious that,
• 1:00:56
  you know him. Yeah.
• 1:00:59
  He's, you know, and he's an amazing artist.
• 1:01:01
  So, I did a podcast. Cast with him years ago.
• 1:01:06
  So, my friend Tom Wilson, who most people know is Biff from
• 1:01:09
  Back to the Future, had a podcast.
• 1:01:11
  And I sat in for him, this is before I ever dreamed of doing a
• 1:01:14
  podcast and I interviewed three people, I interviewed just some
• 1:01:17
  friends of mine and Dave was one of the people that I asked to be
• 1:01:19
  on the show. And I said, Dave, I do, and we
• 1:01:22
  recorded it at Rancho Obi-Wan, which Steve sansweet amazing
• 1:01:26
  place. And I said, I want to do
• 1:01:28
  something that nobody probably will end up doing from this
• 1:01:31
  point out in your career, I don't want to talk about Star
• 1:01:33
  Wars. Talk about you and your art and
• 1:01:34
  such. And I ended up putting it out on
• 1:01:36
  my podcast. I don't know if you ever broke
• 1:01:39
  it up into a couple different pieces, but you really get to
• 1:01:42
  break down who he is an artist in his family.
• 1:01:45
  And, you know, he, he's the lover of Art and arts and he's
• 1:01:50
  an amazing artist himself. I like I have here in my studio.
• 1:01:56
  This is people can't see it, but I'm holding this little maquette
• 1:02:00
  as they call them. It's a, of a clone troopers
• 1:02:02
  helmet. It and it has Mickey ears on it
• 1:02:05
  and it's painted in red and black and white like Mickey and
• 1:02:11
  this there's only two of these. In existence, I have one an
• 1:02:13
  Ashley has one. And Dave made these for us when
• 1:02:16
  we were hosting Star Wars Weekends, and he did them like,
• 1:02:21
  you know, in a couple minutes it's just his he would doodle
• 1:02:25
  things while we were in episodes, and if it was applo
• 1:02:28
  Coon Ahsoka episode, he would draw pictures of little baby
• 1:02:32
  Ahsoka and master. Low and then he'd, you know,
• 1:02:35
  taunt us with these things and but and so all of us have little
• 1:02:40
  Doodles of Dave's. That's great tucked away in
• 1:02:43
  files and stuff that he would just sketch and do so.
• 1:02:47
  I, you know, I as an artist myself, I just love that part of
• 1:02:51
  it and I would love to see like, if somebody were to make a
• 1:02:53
  documentary about Dave filoni ever, I would love to just have
• 1:02:56
  it really be about his love of wildlife.
• 1:02:59
  Wolf's, of course, it is so passionate about and his art and
• 1:03:03
  then Of course, you can talk about Star Wars but I mean, we
• 1:03:05
  know that part so it's like, ya know him as a person.
• 1:03:09
  And that's that's the special part of it.
• 1:03:10
  So, yeah, I'm blessed to blessed to know that's why I always said
• 1:03:14
  if he wants to talk hockey over Star Wars.
• 1:03:17
  Yeah. Well see, that's the thing.
• 1:03:19
  You know, my little takaaki over Star Wars he will.
• 1:03:21
  I'll have to just sit here and watch.
• 1:03:23
  Yeah, me too. I don't know.
• 1:03:26
  So yeah, I never connected on that level going to say Lauren.
• 1:03:30
  I'm sorry. Oh, just that, I loved that
• 1:03:32
  interview with. You did with Dave because oh,
• 1:03:34
  thanks. I loved hearing his background
• 1:03:38
  with art because watching Clone Wars.
• 1:03:40
  There certain cinematography that I always thought reminded
• 1:03:42
  me of Baroque like Caravaggio painting lighting, and then I in
• 1:03:47
  your interviews that I think it was your interview.
• 1:03:48
  He said, he studied Caravaggio college and I was like, well,
• 1:03:51
  that makes sense. Yeah, he was always about that.
• 1:03:55
  And that was the parts that he learned from, you know, from the
• 1:03:57
  master from, from George, Lucas about taking those things that
• 1:04:00
  Inspire us and put them in. And so So Star Wars inspired
• 1:04:04
  him. So, you know, if you think about
• 1:04:06
  it that way who better to take on the mantle of Star Wars than
• 1:04:10
  somebody that was inspired by Star Wars because then it's
• 1:04:12
  truly. Yeah.
• 1:04:14
  Recreating Star Wars if that makes sense.
• 1:04:16
  Yeah, you mentioned the storytelling.
• 1:04:21
  I think that's what Drew us to it overall.
• 1:04:24
  It's just, he's great at it. And yeah, he wants to tell those
• 1:04:28
  stories. Doodlings are testing.
• 1:04:31
  Yeah. So it's pretty fun.
• 1:04:34
  Yeah, we've been, we've been very honored to get to work with
• 1:04:37
  him and stuff, so it was nice to see him again, to at
• 1:04:41
  Celebration. Here, he got choked up at
• 1:04:44
  Celebration, he often will just put his hat over his face and
• 1:04:48
  not agree to have feelings and public.
• 1:04:51
  Yeah, that's what the Clone Wars people will do for me.
• 1:04:53
  Not us. Yeah, we ran a special family.
• 1:05:00
  I mean, I've been very honored to be a part of a lot of
• 1:05:02
  different shows. In my career, over 36 years, of
• 1:05:05
  doing this stuff in a lot of amazing franchises from
• 1:05:07
  Transformers to Back to the Future and all in between.
• 1:05:12
  And yet this Star Wars family is the one that is the tightest,
• 1:05:15
  knit group. I mean Ashley was saying, like,
• 1:05:18
  if we stop doing these conventions, when are we, what
• 1:05:20
  are we going to do? We got to see each other but,
• 1:05:22
  you know, we because we literally like the, you know,
• 1:05:26
  outside of my wife and my daughter on my texts on my
• 1:05:28
  phone. It's Matt.
• 1:05:30
  Ashley and cat. That's fantastic.
• 1:05:33
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:05:33
  So you know, it's pretty fun. All right, lightning round rapid
• 1:05:38
  fire. We do this with everyone, we
• 1:05:40
  have on the show, we have two specific ones.
• 1:05:43
  Okay, where you lay it on me. This question of these, which is
• 1:05:51
  your favorite Obi-Wan hairstyle, Padawan mullet Clone Wars or the
• 1:05:58
  Kenobi series. Oh my, but I will say Clone Wars
• 1:06:06
  because it's the most control. Okay.
• 1:06:08
  Yes it is. The amount of hairspray I have
• 1:06:12
  to use its get I take a little piece, the dingo.
• 1:06:18
  Yeah the one and we know you're a Jedi.
• 1:06:26
  We know your powers is Obi-Wan. Yes.
• 1:06:29
  But you specifically James you were in Star Wars.
• 1:06:33
  What special power would you like to have?
• 1:06:36
  Oh my goodness, any power even ones that may not be created yet
• 1:06:41
  in the Star Wars Universe. Um, the ability to make a
• 1:06:48
  perfect meal for each person that comes in like, Willy Wonka
• 1:06:53
  with chocolate. I would want to make their
• 1:06:58
  dining experience. Wonderful.
• 1:07:01
  I love that. Yes.
• 1:07:07
  Goofy and silly, but very true. I always said that if I wasn't
• 1:07:12
  an actor, I would have been a chef, I love cooking.
• 1:07:14
  And so I do all the cooking in my house.
• 1:07:15
  So you know that I've always said if Obi-Wan wasn't a Jedi,
• 1:07:19
  he'd be a baker honestly. So this is all very full circle
• 1:07:23
  for me. Yes.
• 1:07:27
  Magnificent snickerdoodles and think he's just a loaf on the
• 1:07:33
  outside, soft on the inside. Soft and yes, like Anakin so
• 1:07:37
  crunchy on the outside race. You should crispy, I'm sorry.
• 1:07:44
  Yes, okay. Now I've got to see, I know
• 1:07:46
  people will do that now. Now, people were asking people
• 1:07:49
  to send Chef Obi-Wan pictures now.
• 1:07:51
  Right. I love it.
• 1:07:52
  If I could do anything. Artistic like dry wood.
• 1:07:55
  Send one of them of him. Holding a little fresh, baked
• 1:07:57
  loaf of bread. I'm gonna guess.
• 1:07:59
  Some of your your listeners will go ahead and do that.
• 1:08:02
  Okay, what can we say right? Lauren I mean this is a dream.
• 1:08:12
  Come thank you so much. Say hello there and never stop.
• 1:08:16
  Let's go people ask me how. Yeah, how many times have you
• 1:08:19
  been asked to say it? I mean, well, I've I need to
• 1:08:21
  start making like videos at the cons of people saying hello
• 1:08:24
  there. I guess because As you know
• 1:08:25
  everybody comes up and I always say it first.
• 1:08:28
  Yes. And and then they go, he said
• 1:08:32
  it. He said the thing and I think
• 1:08:33
  we'll of course I did. Why wouldn't I?
• 1:08:35
  It's it makes people smile. It's what it is.
• 1:08:39
  So yeah. Anyone ever respond to you with
• 1:08:41
  the General Grievous? Oh, all the time, General
• 1:08:45
  Kenobi. I say you're a bold one.
• 1:08:49
  And that's a, your move. But, you know, that Grievous was
• 1:08:55
  the one that actually said, hello there.
• 1:08:56
  First. Because of the Clone Wars, yes,
• 1:09:00
  makes me a little sad, but it's all right.
• 1:09:02
  We love Grievous in that odd Twisted.
• 1:09:05
  So yeah, we had such a great time with Matt being at
• 1:09:08
  Celebration and we're like trying to get him to go on the
• 1:09:11
  road with us and do more of these shows because he's he is
• 1:09:13
  such a funny guy and an amazingly talented man.
• 1:09:16
  That has had an amazing career. I can't wait for the documentary
• 1:09:19
  on his life because you know, he grew up with learning from Ben
• 1:09:23
  burtt, who is just the master and all that.
• 1:09:26
  So but he is a really funny guy. He's got a great sense of humor.
• 1:09:29
  And so the two of us in a car, riding back to the hotel, things
• 1:09:34
  is always an experience. That's the whole thing of fun
• 1:09:39
  going on in there. Yes.
• 1:09:40
  So now, I I so look forward to many years of most things
• 1:09:47
  Kenobi, but, and if there's any other things I can do for you,
• 1:09:52
  all you have to let me No. And if there's any little, you
• 1:09:55
  know, Kenobi isms that we haven't recorded before you let
• 1:09:58
  me know and I'll do them again or maybe all of the folks
• 1:10:01
  listening can say, what would we like, Obi-Wan to say.
• 1:10:04
  And we make it exclusive to your podcast, then.
• 1:10:06
  Yes, thank you. We can definitely try it up.
• 1:10:09
  That's okay. James, you're just a deer.
• 1:10:12
  Thank you for being good friends to us.
• 1:10:15
  Absolutely, if you need unpaid extras for you.
• 1:10:19
  Okay, well, you know I mean if We get this comic book one done.
• 1:10:24
  We really do want to have as many fans and friends in there
• 1:10:28
  as possible her professional. No doubts.
• 1:10:31
  Yeah we'd have to have it like the podcast on a screen behind
• 1:10:37
  somebody at one point and then you know whatever I want to try
• 1:10:40
  to put as many Easter eggs in his possible because you know
• 1:10:43
  like you know there's not a lot of movies that are out there
• 1:10:46
  that are that and so that's what I really hope and that's what I
• 1:10:49
  tried to do with the script that I wrote was really have it
• 1:10:51
  really for the fans. And because it's going to be
• 1:10:54
  shot in a comic book shop. I want all the art to be actual
• 1:10:57
  fan art. That's right.
• 1:10:59
  I love that idea. Sounds so fun.
• 1:11:02
  Yeah, it is a fun little movie. It's about.
• 1:11:04
  So it's about a voice actor. That is named, Jay, A
• 1:11:07
  Christensen that nobody's ever seen.
• 1:11:10
  And so, it's kind of homage to all the voice actors in The Very
• 1:11:15
  beginnings of my career, I actually tried very hard to not
• 1:11:17
  have anybody. See what I look like?
• 1:11:19
  And that lasted till about Final Fantasy, 10 came out and Then
• 1:11:23
  people started, you know, wanting to interview me and
• 1:11:25
  stuff for that, but and then Clone Wars, of course, messed
• 1:11:28
  that up entirely. But yeah, I've always loved the
• 1:11:32
  mystery of like what's the person that does?
• 1:11:34
  All the voices look, like and stuff.
• 1:11:35
  And so that's what it's about. It's about this fan, this group
• 1:11:38
  of fans that kind of live in this comic book shop.
• 1:11:41
  It's like cheers at a comic book shop and they conspire to get
• 1:11:45
  this guy to come to the comic book shop for a signing and so
• 1:11:48
  that's that's the new storyline of the because we put a Trailers
• 1:11:53
  out about it, but yeah. So I think it'll be fun.
• 1:11:55
  So, hopefully, we'll get that movie made in the next year.
• 1:11:57
  Ashley said that she has time next year.
• 1:11:59
  So I said, okay, then we will try to get it made and try to
• 1:12:01
  get them because I also want to show everybody when a tremendous
• 1:12:04
  on camera actor is you know, she she started as an on-camera
• 1:12:07
  actor. Yeah, and she is really funny
• 1:12:10
  and talented and a wonderful actress.
• 1:12:13
  So I would love for her to star in a movie and have her have
• 1:12:17
  that opportunity. So that's that's what I'm really
• 1:12:19
  going for. That's wonderful.
• 1:12:21
  We love her and we do You have faith in her.
• 1:12:23
  That would be yes. Wonderful.
• 1:12:25
  Yeah. She's so adored.
• 1:12:27
  It's pretty special what she's done with the community and, and
• 1:12:30
  in creating clothing and all of that as well, you know, so yeah.
• 1:12:35
  But I'm a big fan of all my castmates so, well, whatever
• 1:12:38
  project you ever have going on. If you ever want to promote it,
• 1:12:41
  we will help you with that and yeah, thank you, yeah.
• 1:12:43
  So I just finished a movie called hidden blessings and it's
• 1:12:46
  a movie. I wrote five years ago, and
• 1:12:49
  finally, just decided to shoot it on my own with my friend,
• 1:12:51
  Matthew buds. And he is a great guy.
• 1:12:55
  And so the two of us made this movie, literally, just in every
• 1:12:57
  corner of my house with a handful of actors that we found
• 1:13:01
  some really talented young. Actors, we found out here in
• 1:13:04
  Tennessee where we live and put it together and it's getting a
• 1:13:08
  lot of really good attention from the people that have seen
• 1:13:10
  it. I've put the trailer out, we're
• 1:13:12
  hoping to get distribution for all the music now.
• 1:13:15
  I used some music from a band called Jars of Clay and I had
• 1:13:18
  the opportunity to meet the lead singer of Jars of Clay Dan
• 1:13:22
  Hazeltine. And turns out he and his son are
• 1:13:24
  Clone Wars fans so that was good.
• 1:13:26
  So so we ended up hitting it off and we've been talking about it.
• 1:13:31
  So I'm trying to acquire all the rights to their songs and once I
• 1:13:33
  do that, hopefully will get the movie out there and distribute
• 1:13:36
  it and I don't know exactly how we'll do it but, you know, it'll
• 1:13:39
  be out there soon. But it's about a painter.
• 1:13:41
  And and this painting and this gal that finds it.
• 1:13:44
  And there's questions of whether or not this man is possibly
• 1:13:47
  maybe her father, whatever. And then she stumbles across its
• 1:13:50
  shot as a documentary. We did that out of The fact that
• 1:13:53
  that was the easiest way to shoot a movie when you don't
• 1:13:55
  have a huge budget. But also, I'm a huge fan of
• 1:13:58
  documentaries and I hope that some people will watch it.
• 1:14:01
  And go is this real? Is that guy really?
• 1:14:03
  You know? And so it's a lot of fun.
• 1:14:06
  It has a lot of ups and downs, a lot of drama, but a lot of Sweet
• 1:14:09
  Moments in it too. And so, hopefully, it shows
• 1:14:11
  people another side of old Obi-Wan as well too, but I have
• 1:14:15
  my Obi-Wan beard in the movie. So, do I speaking I do sneak in
• 1:14:20
  a lot of Obi-Wan Easter eggs in Are two.
• 1:14:23
  So nice. Gotta satisfy those fans right?
• 1:14:26
  That's right. Yeah.
• 1:14:27
  And the podcast is hopefully coming back here very soon.
• 1:14:29
  I'll record another episode soon.
• 1:14:31
  But I've been, you know, I had taken a break from podcast for a
• 1:14:33
  while. So yours is the first time I'm
• 1:14:35
  doing. But I am doing a Friends
• 1:14:37
  Podcast, that's first episode of it in a couple days where they
• 1:14:41
  take Disney rides and they Star Wars of Phi them star.
• 1:14:44
  Well, yeah. So we'll be doing that.
• 1:14:47
  I think I'm, I chose Pirates of the Caribbean and said it sounds
• 1:14:50
  like fun. I've written that.
• 1:14:54
  I'm interested to hear how this gets Star Wars, if I.
• 1:14:58
  Yeah, and now, you know, if you go to Disney World and ride on
• 1:15:01
  that. Yeah, I am the voice of the
• 1:15:03
  skull. Yes, o.
• 1:15:04
  My best friend. Say, who lives?
• 1:15:06
  Like 40 minutes from Orlando. Okay, we go.
• 1:15:11
  They're constantly every single Park.
• 1:15:13
  He's filling me with facts and that was actually one fact.
• 1:15:16
  I gave him so, look at that. Yes, I did.
• 1:15:20
  You didn't tell? No Tales.
• 1:15:21
  Yes, sent me videos. Oh, of you on the rise of
• 1:15:24
  Skywalker. Whatever.
• 1:15:25
  That rise to the resistance. Yeah, Lieutenant back.
• 1:15:27
  Yeah but I was like, you know, that's James right there in your
• 1:15:31
  video. I have a bad feeling about this
• 1:15:37
  that ride is something, but yeah, that was my homage to
• 1:15:40
  actor. John Hurt.
• 1:15:42
  I don't know if, you know, Harry and I had been his voice double
• 1:15:46
  for many years and when he passed I thought, you know, be
• 1:15:49
  great to do like a little massage to him and so, certainly
• 1:15:52
  tenant back is you. Cousin of Admiral.
• 1:15:54
  Ackbar? I am now.
• 1:15:56
  There's one thing that my brain. It's that's John.
• 1:16:01
  Yes. Harry Potter.
• 1:16:03
  Yeah. So there you go.
• 1:16:06
  So, well, I'm sorry, I'll just keep going and going if you
• 1:16:09
  don't stop it. If we had all day, we would let
• 1:16:14
  you keep. Yeah, well, we'll just we'll say
• 1:16:17
  we'll say that. We'll do this again sometime and
• 1:16:19
  then Willa, that's maybe we'll do most most things.
• 1:16:23
  Blow, cool. I like that to a new twist or
• 1:16:28
  I'll bring a guest like, Catherine, Tabor or, you know,
• 1:16:31
  Matt Lanter or somebody next time.
• 1:16:33
  Huh, that would be amazing. Don't forget, I have this
• 1:16:35
  question for Matt. Yes.
• 1:16:39
  If you need any nudge, if he needs any nudging, tell him
• 1:16:41
  there's very important. Question, I guess I really was
• 1:16:46
  going to ask him at Celebration, but it remains a mystery.
• 1:16:49
  Matt is so funny because he'll go gosh, I don't remember he, he
• 1:16:54
  doesn't remember anything, but I think it's convenient sometimes
• 1:16:57
  that he doesn't matter. I had a picture pulled up and
• 1:17:00
  ready because I said tries to. Yes.
• 1:17:03
  Was gonna you know this scene? Look anyway, that person.
• 1:17:06
  But do you have any other projects you want to talk about
• 1:17:09
  before we? Oh my goodness.
• 1:17:11
  Well, like I say the Thank you for letting me plug those and
• 1:17:15
  always people can go to my website and stuff and please
• 1:17:18
  subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you get a chance it's James
• 1:17:20
  Arnold Taylor, look it up and find it.
• 1:17:22
  I'm so close to 100,000 subscribers.
• 1:17:24
  I've been getting used to that but for so long and yeah.
• 1:17:29
  So, but other than that, trying to think of other things in
• 1:17:33
  them. Well, there's a show called The
• 1:17:34
  Garden from my friend Butch Hartman that he created and I
• 1:17:37
  play Lenny. The lion in that.
• 1:17:39
  There's a new cartoon, most of these are like toddler.
• 1:17:43
  Shows in like young, kids shows that one is and then another one
• 1:17:46
  called the Dead Sea. Squirrels that was made by the
• 1:17:48
  gusseted VeggieTales and I actually play the bad guy in
• 1:17:53
  that which is kind of fun. I don't usually get to play a
• 1:17:56
  bad guy, so that was fun and and then there's some other other
• 1:18:02
  things I'm trying to think of other little projects.
• 1:18:04
  There's this is a couple others there might even be one or two
• 1:18:06
  that I'm going to do some on-camera work on so cool.
• 1:18:09
  Yeah, so I'll start popping up in more ways but thank you for
• 1:18:11
  asking ID. Well, thank you.
• 1:18:13
  So, so, so much for all the kindness, you've always showed
• 1:18:16
  us and for making time to come on here.
• 1:18:19
  I know you have an abscess really busy schedule, so we
• 1:18:21
  appreciate you, you know, the life of a Jedi's, always on the
• 1:18:25
  Move. Yeah, always on the run, always
• 1:18:28
  on the go and you decided to stop by and speak to us.
• 1:18:31
  Were humbled, thanks. Oh well, thank you ladies.
• 1:18:34
  Well, May the force be with you both as I know it is yes.
• 1:18:38
  But Yan, please stay on the light side.
• 1:18:43
  For now, Laura and I have a bad feeling about this one, I think.
• 1:18:48
  Yes. I think we might be in a bit of
• 1:18:49
  trouble, right? Anakin's around.
• 1:18:53
  She's a goner. I'm gonna stay on The High
• 1:18:58
  Ground. I just find him psychologically
• 1:19:01
  interesting. I just he's he's the onion that
• 1:19:04
  is just keeps getting more and more layers, you know.
• 1:19:08
  It's just boy. Yeah, no.
• 1:19:09
  I will come back because we need to talk about that sometime
• 1:19:12
  which I've never Because I always think it would be
• 1:19:14
  fascinating. Really?
• 1:19:15
  See all the places they could go with just Anakin Skywalker
• 1:19:19
  alone? I'm game if you're game.
• 1:19:21
  Yeah, okay. Come back whenever you have time
• 1:19:24
  from a certain point of view, right.
• 1:19:27
  It'll be everyone's point of view.
• 1:19:29
  Well, unwrap that onion. All right.
• 1:19:33
  Thank you. Thank you so much.
• 1:19:35
  And May the force be with you and everyone will subscribe.
• 1:19:38
  And, and patrons we need, we need as many patrons as we can.
• 1:19:42
  Get. So you will become a patron.
• 1:19:45
  Most things Kenobi. Jedi mind trick required.
• 1:19:49
  Yes you will, you will subscribe.
• 1:19:53
  Alright thank you so much. And if they do, you know what if
• 1:19:59
  they do? Well have two.
• 1:20:00
  So let's do an arrangement here. If he can get some new patrons,
• 1:20:04
  I will, I will do a special message for them or assigned
• 1:20:08
  thing or something exclusively for most things Kenobi.
• 1:20:11
  All right? All right, and the three of us
• 1:20:15
  will work that out. And you'll talk to my wife,
• 1:20:16
  she'll figure it out for me. She figured everything out for
• 1:20:19
  me. My lovely wife, Alison.
• 1:20:21
  But so yes, we let's do that. Okay?
• 1:20:24
  So we'll say that right now, if you become a patron, Then you
• 1:20:28
  know, I know that seems like bribery but it's not, it's good.
• 1:20:30
  They'll be we'll just say there's some special, they'll be
• 1:20:33
  some special Obi-Wan's stuff for you.
• 1:20:36
  All right, for the night for the next, you know, 10 patrons.
• 1:20:40
  All right, thank you. You're amazing.
• 1:20:42
  Jay. Yes, thank you.
• 1:20:43
  Oh, can't just so kind. Thank you.
• 1:20:46
  Absolutely. All right, well May the force be
• 1:20:48
  with you all. Well friends, that's it for our
• 1:20:57
  James Arnold Taylor interview at least until next time, fingers
• 1:21:01
  crossed. We hope you enjoyed today's
• 1:21:04
  episode. I think it's pretty clear that
• 1:21:06
  Leann and I were having a blast. We'd like to thank James once
• 1:21:09
  again, not just for making time to come on the show but for all
• 1:21:13
  of the kindnesses he's shown us over the years though, he is
• 1:21:16
  immensely talented with an amazing body of work to prove
• 1:21:19
  it. He's humble and sincere in a
• 1:21:21
  way. II and many of our listeners
• 1:21:23
  find inspiring. So James on behalf of all your
• 1:21:27
  fans. I thank you for those
• 1:21:29
  interested. A video version of this
• 1:21:31
  interview is available for our Jedi Masters, tear on patreon.
• 1:21:35
  We also have a few more tidbits James films with us just for our
• 1:21:38
  patrons that will be available for all tears coming very soon.
• 1:21:42
  So keep an eye out for that and if you follow most things Kenobi
• 1:21:46
  on Instagram, you saw the big news that I actually got to meet
• 1:21:50
  James in person recently. Was amazing.
• 1:21:53
  And as he stated in this week's episode, he signed, 10
• 1:21:57
  autographs for our patrons. I have them here in my hands
• 1:22:01
  now. So we'll be running a giveaway
• 1:22:03
  on patreon very soon. Stay tuned for more details.
• 1:22:06
  If you aren't already a patron, please consider joining we have
• 1:22:09
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• 1:22:14
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• 1:22:18
  helps us produce this podcast which hopefully you enjoy and
• 1:22:22
  Love On a different note. We will be taking next week off
• 1:22:26
  our first break in two years. So, no new episode will drop
• 1:22:31
  next Tuesday, but don't worry, we'll be back the following week
• 1:22:34
  with a fun conversation about the Twitter controversial gray.
• 1:22:39
  Jedi, thanks mishaela for the inspiration.
• 1:22:43
  Thank you so much for joining us here on the most things Kenobi
• 1:22:46
  podcast. We appreciate every single one
• 1:22:48
  of our patrons and are grateful for your support.
• 1:22:51
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• 1:23:01
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• 1:23:04
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• 1:23:10
  to find all of these head over to most things Kenobi, duck.
• 1:23:14
  So until next time, Myspace twin May the force be with you
• 1:23:19
  always.