Ewan McGregor now feels more appreciative of playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, says he was concerned about the backlash over playing iconic gay designer Halston

The Hollywood Reporter

In a Hollywood Reporter cover interview, McGregor says of the original Star Wars prequel trilogy, it "was hard they didn't get well received. That was quite difficult. They were universally not very much liked." But he's more hopeful for the Disney+ series after the positive reception for The Mandalorian. "I'm really excited about it," he says with glee. "Maybe more so than the first ones, because I'm older — I just turned 50 — and I'm just in a much better place." Next month, McGregor will star in Ryan Murphy's five-part Netflix drama Halston, playing the 1970s fashion star. McGregor is no stranger to playing gay roles. But as The Hollywood Reporter's Seth Abramovitch points out, the problem, as Billy Porter put it in a 2019 Hollywood Reporter Actor Roundtable, comes when the sexuality-blind casting works in only one direction. "If 'flamboyantly' wasn't in the description of the character, no one would see me ever for anything," Porter said. "Straight men playing gay — everyone wants to give them an award." McGregor responds: "I hear the discussion and I respect both sides of it, I really do. I haven't walked in Billy Porter's shoes. I don't know what it's like to lose out parts when you might feel it's to do with your sexuality. So I can only respect his point of view."