Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, streaming, TV | Tagged: grand inquisitor, jason isaacs, Obi Wan Kenobi, obi-wan, rupert friend, star wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Rupert Friend on Bringing Grand Inquisitor To Life

One of the biggest surprises of the Star Wars TV universe since the premiere of The Mandalorian is the live-action introduction of animated legacy characters from the Dave Filoni shows in The Clone Wars and Rebels. We've seen fan favorites like Ahsoka Tano, who was the main character featured in TCW, originally voiced by Ashley Eckstein in the series, and Rosario Dawson playing her live-action counterpart in The Mandalorian. Rebels' Bo-Katan Kyrze and TCW's Cad Bane also made their live-action debuts with original voice actors Katee Sackoff and Corey Burton reprising their roles for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, respectively. The next major character is the Grand Inquisitor, who was introduced in Rebels (voiced by Jason Isaacs), now making his live-action debut in the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi played by Rupert Friend, who broke down to Entertainment Weekly his role on the series.

The inquisitors are tasked by the Emperor to hunt the remaining Jedi throughout the galaxy when Darth Vader is too busy to handle it himself. "I mean, I don't know anyone that doesn't love Star Wars, to be honest. It's just the most richly textured, layered world that has possibly ever been created for us to enjoy," Friend said of what he thought of the franchise. "So the idea of getting to be a part of that world is just a complete boyhood dream come true." Upon his first time on set and geeking out, "Oh my God! All the time! mean, the first time somebody handed me my lightsaber, I nearly fainted. You're just like, this is my lightsaber and we've never had this lightsaber in the Star Wars universe before. And I was getting to play this guy that's never been in the live-action Star Wars, so there were a lot of firsts for me. And then standing next to Obi-Wan Kenobi himself is pretty amazing."

When it came to describing Friend's character, "Okay, so basically the Grand Inquisitor is the chief of the Inquisitors, and he reports directly to Darth Vader. He's a pretty powerful member of the dark side. And some people who aren't familiar with Star Wars may or may not know this, but he used to be a Jedi. He used to fight for the forces of good as a temple guard. And he also is one of the people who trained Jedi in fighting styles, so he knows all the things that they know about fighting, and that makes him a pretty fearsome opponent."

Friend attributes his character to an exterminator. "Obviously, he's the master of the Force. But to me, it's that economy of power that demonstrates a truly powerful figure," he said. "As in, he's not running around like a headless chicken chasing after people left, right, and center. There are plenty of lower minions who can do that. He's the one who's trusting the Force, trusting his gut. And he honestly, like a kind of expert rat catcher, just really feels he can sniff out any Jedi hiding anywhere, anytime. So if I were a Jedi and I were being hunted by this guy, I'd be pretty afraid." For more on if Fiend watched Rebels, the Grand Inquisitor's methodology, lightsaber training, makeup, voice, co-stars, and more, you can check out the whole interview here. Obi-Wan Kenobi, which also stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, and Moses Ingram, premieres May 27th on Disney+.

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