Latest / Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast / Episode 147: Part 4 of "The Obi-Wan Actors" - Stephen Stanton Beautifully Closes the Loop on Obi-Wan in Rebels

Transcript

Episode 147: Part 4 of "The Obi-Wan Actors" - Stephen Stanton Beautifully Closes the Loop on Obi-Wan in Rebels · Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast

• 0:00
  It's most things. Kenobi an Elegant.
• 0:03
  Podcast. For a more.
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  Civilized fandom. Hi everyone.
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  Welcome to another episode of Most Things Kenobi, a podcast
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  about Obi Wan Kenobi and all things Star Wars.
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  I'm your host, Lauren. And I'm your host Leanne.
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  And this week we are finishing up our series on the actors who
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  have portrayed Obi Wan Kenobi with Steven Stanton.
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  Yes, he's only well, I mean he's done Obi Wan a few times, but we
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  are particularly talking about his performance in Rebels today,
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  which is just one episode, but still a very important and
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  impactful one. I mean, he's.
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  Very. Before we started recording, we
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  were just talking and Leanne, you were saying he's done Obi
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  Wan and some video games and some other stuff already, so.
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  Oh yeah, yeah. And he shows up in Clone Wars as
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  different characters all the time, most notably.
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  One of my favorite characters. Tarkin.
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  Yes, Which? Shame on me.
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  I didn't realize it was Steven. So that's what's so.
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  Cool about him I think is his voice is so changeable.
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  It's amazing. Yes.
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  And he sounds so realistically like OG Tarkin that I that we
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  were talking about that in the the James Arnold Taylor episode
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  when you're not thinking it's the actor.
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  Yes, yeah. Then they're doing it properly
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  and so I I just go along in life thinking it's the character
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  which is is a credit to the actor or actress themselves, so.
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  Yes, for sure. I I love Tarkin so much and you
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  know Guy oh gosh what's his last name.
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  I'm. I'm totally blanking.
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  The guy who plays him in Rogue One.
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  I think his name is actually Guy.
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  Guy Henry I think is his name maybe.
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  Sorry if I'm wrong. Even he is so good as Tarkin.
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  I forget that it's it's not Peter Krushing and I've actually
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  I've. I went back and looked, 'cause I
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  was like, is it guy doing the voice?
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  Because it also sounds like Steven Stanton and they all
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  doing their own version, but it's so similar.
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  It's amazing. I have to say, since we're
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  talking about the Obi Wan and Steven Stanton rounds it out in
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  Rebels. Very important scene.
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  Like you said, he sounds more like Alec Guinness than all of
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  the above. The I mean, not, not not more
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  than Alec, but I mean all of the above that we've covered.
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  Not including Alec. Which is great, because at this
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  point in the timeline, he's the closest to Alec Guinness's
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  character's age, status, point in life, etcetera.
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  Right. So he does an extremely good job
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  of again bridging the gap between James Arnold, Taylor,
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  Ewan McGregor, the timeline and then Alec Guinness.
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  So it's a crucial moment captured and.
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  Yeah. A scene that people hail as one
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  of the best. It's so interesting to rewatch
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  it now that we have the Kenobi series.
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  It really is though, because oh God, in the little the little
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  Luke that that it it's like look who can she calls and it's just
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  like, oh shivers goosebumps every single time.
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  But you're right though re watching it with the Kenobi
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  series in mind is kind of weird, but like a good weird.
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  Yeah, it adds so much more meaning to everything, honestly.
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  Like what Obi Wan is saying, but also his composure in the
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  moment. Yeah, it's.
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  Wild. Here's what struck me right.
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  It's like Maul is his lifelong nemesis.
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  Basically, he started Obi Wan's life at a whole new trajectory.
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  And every time they come together, Obi Wan gets so
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  flustered and he, he holds his own pretty well and he gets
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  better and better with each confrontation.
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  I mean, the first confrontation, he literally cuts him in half.
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  So I guess that started out pretty good, but then.
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  Well, when you set the bar that high.
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  Right, right. But what struck me about this is
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  he is so calm. Everything about him is
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  controlled. He's really sure of what he's
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  about and Maul is just not getting under his skin like he
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  usually does. And he's trying all the old
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  tricks. Yes, all of it is like Maul is
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  still the same and as we've always said, Obi Wan learns and
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  grows. Yes.
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  And I really now looking back with the Kenobi series, Obi Wan
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  already faced his darkest. It's.
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  True Demon and Samal is nothing compared to Vader and Anakin.
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  Right after that. I mean after you face the mental
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  and physical challenge. And there was both.
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  He's literally hurling boulders, OK, after doubting himself for
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  so long and dealing with the end of an era, if you will, and a
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  friendship. And fear.
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  Fear in himself. Fear of all this, everything
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  with the children. And it's so depressing.
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  And he rises again from the ashes.
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  Literally. And Maul is nothing.
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  A gnat on a cow's ass. Just swat.
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  That's awful what I just said, but no.
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  But it's true. I love it actually, cause Maul
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  is so obsessed and wrapped up. Yeah, and Obi Wan has moved on
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  already, yeah. He's got other shit to worry
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  about. Which is the best kind of
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  revenge? It is.
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  It is. That is the thing like the best.
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  Well, isn't it? The best revenge is when you
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  move. On Yeah, Life well lived, I
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  think is an yes. That's it.
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  Thank you. Thank you.
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  Yeah, that. I mean, not that he's living
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  exactly like, well in the desert being a shut in, but he's got
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  purpose now that Trump's everything.
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  Right, exactly. He's he's forgiven himself for
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  Satine, for Anakin, for, you know, or at least has come to
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  terms with enough to move on. Yeah.
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  And I think that at this point we're seeing Obi Wan kind of at
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  his peak, and not because I mean like obviously Clone the Clone
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  Wars was so fucking badass. And the Kenobi series fighting
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  Vader, that was so awesome. But this is a true like this is
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  a Grandmaster kind of mentality. He's.
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  Calm. He defeats Maul instantly
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  because he's so certain of his purpose to protect Luke and he's
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  just in control. It's like his connection with
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  the Force, it's probably the strongest it's ever been, which
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  is crazy, 'cause he had shut himself off from it for so.
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  Long, yeah. Yeah.
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  Yeah, I just. I think it's really cool to see.
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  It is, and all of this is reflected in the the tone of
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  voice that Steven delivers in in the short scene.
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  But it's required because too high pitch would be too nervous,
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  too low pitch wouldn't be believable.
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  You have to come in feeling like you've lived all of this, even
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  if you haven't voiced it. You know what I mean?
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  Yes. So true.
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  Oh my gosh, yes. But he's Steven Stanton's been
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  there in Clone Wars and has seen it.
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  So he has some knowledge. I mean, he's been.
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  There, he's been the one provoking Obi Wan into
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  annoyance. Literally.
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  So it's not like he doesn't have knowledge or he has to ignore
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  certain knowledges. Knowledge base like like James
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  Arnold Taylor had to do ignore right?
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  Knowing the end of Revenge of the Sith, that sort of thing.
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  So he had a whole catalog to pull from and delivered
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  extremely well. His voice is so perfect like
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  his. Like you said, his Alec Guinness
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  is so perfect. It's.
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  Really good. I wonder if you put him side by
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  side if you could tell one or the other.
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  You probably could if you're an obsessed Star Wars fan, but I
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  bet for some people who aren't as versed in it, you might not
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  be able to tell the difference. Well, especially if you're
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  watching them out of order and not watching them back-to-back.
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  It would be easy to. But I don't wanna.
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  I don't. I kind of wanna listen to him
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  back-to-back, but I also don't. Yeah, yeah.
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  You know, but it would be interesting to do so.
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  I should probably I should do that once.
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  Well, the fact that he can do both Peter Cushing and Alec
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  Guinness perfectly is pretty, pretty interesting.
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  It's like they're both actors from the same era and clearly
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  Stevens voice is like in that range, just perfectly.
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  And he's got to have a really good ear cause holy crap.
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  He's labeled as a voice match artist.
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  That makes sense. Right, It makes sense.
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  But how hard would that be? I don't know how people do that.
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  Like, I always think of Jimmy Fallon, who can.
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  It seems as though he can match anyone's voice singing, you
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  know, just regular talking. It's so wild at just that your
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  vocal cords can do that. I don't know.
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  But it's he's also Admiral Raddis in Rogue One, which we
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  talked about before we started. Oh yeah.
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  Yeah, I love. I love that character.
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  I went back and re listened to before this episode as well and
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  I was like, I can't tell, I can't, you know.
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  I feel like playing Aman Calamari is like a voice actor's
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  dream like that. Totally fun.
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  Kind of character to play. They're their own, like,
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  distinct race. Like I feel if you're going to
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  step up to the plate and do a Mon Calamari, you have to
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  There's a there's a set rule book on what you have to sound
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  like. You also have to sound like
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  you're you're missing water. Yes.
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  Like you're literally fish out of water.
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  Yes, you're somehow living, but it's notable that you're
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  supposed to be in water. It's very, I don't know, Star
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  Wars is so unique in that respect that they have these
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  races that are so random. I love it.
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  I love it. I love it.
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  I. Love it.
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  I just love. They always sound like they're
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  breathing through gills, so it's just like, yes.
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  Yeah, they have. They have a a Flemmi problem, a
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  flem problem. Somewhere in their throat, yes,
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  but it's also not gross. Right.
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  It's somehow endearing. Yeah, it's very.
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  I love it. I love it.
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  And James Arnold Taylor is the voice of oh God, now what's his
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  name? It's the It's the Mom calamari
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  in the ride at Disney World. The Rise and resistance.
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  Lieutenant Beck. Yes, Beck.
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  Yes. Yes.
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  So he said is based on John Hurt, which I just love, 'cause
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  I love John Hurt. I just love that so much.
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  So that's that's fun. I love all these Mon Calamari.
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  Did you? Know Anna Graves plays the Mon
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  Calamari, also in one of the Clone Wars episodes.
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  Really. Yeah, it's that one.
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  It's like the beginning. Of underwater.
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  Yeah, it's like season three or four.
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  It's like the first episodes are like it's a four part arc.
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  And yeah, it's all lightsabers work underwater.
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  Yeah, yeah, Kit Fisto was really shining.
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  He was all of his hair, his hair, his tentacles.
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  Whatever you want to call that? Yeah.
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  Yeah, I love that he has. Like, small aside folks, but I
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  love that he has like gold rings or leather ties or something on
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  his like he decorates them. I love that.
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  I love. I think.
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  I also love that he's always smiling.
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  Yes, he gives 0 fucks about anything.
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  He's one of those guys. I love those guys, 'cause I'm
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  not that person. I know I care too much.
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  I do too. But look at him.
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  He's making his way through life, smiling.
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  Hey, Steven Stanton is also Tarkin in The Bad Batch.
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  Oh yeah, And he has to, like, kind of age his voice down a
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  little bit, 'cause he was little bit.
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  I heard an interview where he was saying when he did Tarkin
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  and Clone Wars, he had gone back and watched Peter Cushing's
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  early stuff, 'cause he, I guess Peter Cushing came over from
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  England and lived in Hollywood for a long time.
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  And so he was in some old Hollywood movies and he said his
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  voice was pitched really high. So he was trying to recreate
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  that but not go so high that people would be like, that's not
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  Target, right? So I feel like in Bad Batch he
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  like lowers down more into what we know from A New Hope.
• 13:15
  Yes, I agree. He was born in Germany.
• 13:19
  Really. Is he German?
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  Is he? Like he is German born American.
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  How interesting. I never knew that.
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  He was in born in Augsburg, Bavaria, West Germany.
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  I hope I pronounced that properly.
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  That's interesting. I wonder if that's why he can,
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  like, hear, you know, other accents and recreate them,
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  'cause did he have American parents?
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  Does it say? It doesn't.
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  Say hmm. Interesting.
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  German born American. He was born there in 1961.
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  He's a voice double for. Listen to this lineup, OK?
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  Voice double for Tim Allen, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Peter
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  Cushing, Robert Downey Junior, Right.
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  Wow. Roger, Roger Ebert, Jeff
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  Goldblum. I could see Jeff Goldblum.
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  I could see Jeff Goldblum, Alec Guinness, of course.
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  Clive Owen, Bruce Willis. Wow.
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  Invention. Vincent Schiavelli.
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  Schiavelli. Schiavelli.
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  I'm not familiar with me neither and.
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  I'm sorry, I can't pronounce it, but he's on theme park
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  attractions, Disney television series.
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  He's in video games, most notably Battlefront.
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  Star Wars Battlefront as both Maul and Ben Kenobi, which is.
• 14:49
  I would love to hear his. Maul, I know.
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  He's also Alliance Officer #1 Oh, OK.
• 14:58
  Which I love, you know. He he did a Droid too, in.
• 15:03
  I'm not being able to remember the exact letter combination in
• 15:07
  Rebels. He was like AD 5 or AP5 or
• 15:11
  whatever it was. But that voice is based on Alan
• 15:14
  Rickman. Shut up.
• 15:16
  Really. Yeah.
• 15:18
  Oh my God. He said he was inspired by Alan
• 15:22
  Rickman's Hans Gruber from Die Hard So I.
• 15:24
  Oh my God. Rest in peace, Alan Rickman.
• 15:27
  You're a fucking legend. He's one of my favorite humans
• 15:32
  that have ever lived. You know what's wild is that
• 15:35
  Steven Stanton voiced Legolas the elf in the video game Lord
• 15:40
  of the Rings. The battle for Middle Middle
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  Earth, which I've never played, but I I honestly have a hard
• 15:46
  time picturing him sounding like Legolas.
• 15:50
  So I might have to like search that out on YouTube or something
• 15:53
  to hear it because he elves have a very distinct way of speaking
• 15:58
  and and their voices and stuff, so that'd be interesting.
• 16:01
  Is that the, that's the Orlando Bloom character, right?
• 16:04
  So he's kind of got a lighter. Like I would describe him as
• 16:07
  more like a boyish character, but.
• 16:10
  Yeah, because elves are eternal. They live forever and they have
• 16:14
  sing songy voices. They're supposed to be ethereal
• 16:17
  in nature. So interesting to hear how?
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  I gotta look it up. So anyway, that's just a a few
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  trivia points there. It's just wild that among
• 16:29
  everything he's he's done all of this and is a voice double for
• 16:35
  all those I feel Goldblum, ma'am.
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  I mean, I would. I would pay money to see that I
• 16:41
  wanna. I love people's Jeff Goldblum's
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  impressions 'cause I love Jeff Goldblum.
• 16:45
  He's so strange, but also so fascinating.
• 16:49
  You know, he and I share a birthday.
• 16:52
  Oh really? He's the only one on that shares
• 16:55
  my birthday that I give a shit about.
• 16:58
  It's like, yes, I have a crazy, psycho, crazy man on my
• 17:02
  birthday. It's great.
• 17:06
  I love him. He's so ridiculous.
• 17:08
  He's. Got like the greatest monologue
• 17:10
  in Jurassic Park? How did this turn into Jeff
• 17:13
  Goldblum? Well, because Steven Stan voiced
• 17:15
  Jeff Goldblum, yes. Yes, correct.
• 17:17
  It's. Connected.
• 17:18
  Degrees. Unlike in our last episode,
• 17:20
  where we tangented off onto Big Lebowski territory for.
• 17:25
  It's bound to happen. Has anyone drawn or or voiced
• 17:29
  him in Jelly sandals yet? Question mark?
• 17:33
  Still waiting. It's bound to happen with these
• 17:37
  voice actors, 'cause they do so much right.
• 17:39
  And it's true. But maybe we should bring it
• 17:43
  back to what has Steven Stanton brought to the table as as Obi
• 17:46
  Wan, which we kind of already covered.
• 17:48
  Yeah, I mean he it's very clear that he's able to close the
• 17:52
  circle on bringing Obi Wan into Alec Guinness's performance.
• 17:57
  So he like, takes the whole story and and connects the dots,
• 18:02
  basically. And he does it so well that,
• 18:06
  like I said, you can barely tell that it's not actually elegant
• 18:09
  as himself. Right, right.
• 18:12
  And it sounds like an aged UN or James Arnold Taylor.
• 18:16
  At the same time, the accents there, the, the, there's,
• 18:19
  there's a hint of like there's knowledge of what he used to be
• 18:25
  prior to all this, which I think, if nothing else, you have
• 18:32
  to round it out in this moment and you have to bring what the
• 18:36
  audience already knows about this character at this moment.
• 18:40
  Yeah, they're going to have expectations for sure.
• 18:42
  Yeah, and I think he does. He does it perfectly.
• 18:46
  I have a question. Who voices the Anakin in Rebels?
• 18:49
  You know that it's not actually Anakin.
• 18:52
  It's like a. The holocron.
• 18:53
  Or whatever. Holocron, yeah.
• 18:55
  It's Matt Lanter. It is OK.
• 18:58
  Yeah, the and like James does voice Obi Wan in Rebels, but
• 19:02
  just in the holocron video that shows like the message he
• 19:06
  basically sent out. Which is appropriate because it
• 19:09
  was recorded at the time that James Arnold Taylor's was Obi.
• 19:15
  Obi Wan was voiced by the timeline in Star Wars Is Crazy.
• 19:22
  And then to keep all of these actors and actresses straight
• 19:26
  like in the timeline is a is a task.
• 19:30
  It is. There's like a professional
• 19:33
  employee at Lucasfilm whose job is just keeping everyone in
• 19:36
  order in the timeline. Yes, yes.
• 19:39
  It's again the meme of all the pictures and things on the wall
• 19:44
  and connecting them. That's the timeline in Star
• 19:47
  Wars, and it's getting more convoluted.
• 19:49
  It is, yeah. It definitely is more and more
• 19:52
  complex. Actually, since I mentioned
• 19:54
  Anakin, we are going to do this series with the Anakin actors,
• 19:59
  are we? Yes, yes.
• 20:00
  And that's going to be so awesome.
• 20:03
  It's going to be we haven't spoken about Hayden Christensen
• 20:07
  yet, not in full. I know we hadn't talked about
• 20:10
  you in or Hayden really at all on the show, so it's time.
• 20:16
  It is time, yes. All right, so that's it.
• 20:25
  We've wrapped up all four actors, the main actors who have
• 20:28
  played Obi Wan Kenobi. Our question for you, which one
• 20:32
  is your favorite and why? Tell us, either on social media.
• 20:36
  Tell us on Spotify. Drop us an e-mail and we might
• 20:40
  read it on next week's episode. Speaking of next week's episode,
• 20:44
  we're starting the new series, the next series covering the
• 20:48
  Anakin actors, and there are three of them.
• 20:52
  We're starting with Jake Lloyd, who was first Anakin in the
• 20:57
  prequels as Little Baby Anakin, Little Little Child Anakin and
• 21:03
  all that. He ended up becoming an older
• 21:05
  Anakin. So we'll do Jake Lloyd, followed
• 21:08
  by Hayden Christensen, followed by Matt Lanter.
• 21:11
  So join us back next week for Jake Lloyd.
• 21:15
  Thank you so much for joining us here on the Most Thanks Kenobi
• 21:17
  Podcast. We appreciate every single one
• 21:20
  of our patrons and are grateful for your support.
• 21:22
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• 21:25
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• 21:28
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  to Most Things kenobi.com. So until next time, my space
• 21:48
  twin, may the Force be with you. Always.