Oscar Isaac discusses filming Star Wars plus Ewan McGregor talks lightsabers

January 28th 2015, 5:07pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

There's been a lot of talk about how J.J. Abrams has been trying to keep things practical on the set of THE FORCE AWAKENS regarding the special effects, but we actually have a bit of a story that's a nice change of pace. Now, not to go bashing George Lucas or anything, but he's not exactly known as the "actor's director". Oscar Isaac (that nifty X-Wing pilot you see in the trailer) talked a bit about what the experience was like filming Star Wars and most notably, the attitude of J.J. Abrams once Harrison Ford was given a clean bill of health regarding his leg.

J.J. Abrams' reaction to Harrison Ford's recovery:

JJ was in such high spirits, he was literally making jokes on the loudspeakers. We had a big schedule that day, but JJ stopped us all and he said, ‘Can everybody just stop and look at the moon right now? He said, ‘Look how beautiful it is, and how lucky we all are to be here.’ JJ knows what’s important, and he reminded us it was a beautiful experience. He made it very personal.

Frankly, it's nice to see a director just take a moment out of their schedule and not take things for granted. I mean, I personally might've just pointed at the closest hot person on-set instead of the moon, but the sentiment is the same. Meanwhile, Star Wars-veteran Ewan McGregor took some time out from playing Jesus to talk about the new lightsaber design. While his answer is very tongue-in-cheek (check out the video here), it looks like he's not the biggest fan of the hilt either!

Ewan McGregor on the new lightsaber:

I was a bit dubious about the hilt on the lightsaber. It’s got a hilt now. You don’t need a hilt. If you know how to handle a lightsaber, like we did, you don’t need a hilt. That’s just one thing that I think they might have got wrong.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS his theaters on December 18, 2015.

I don't care if it doesn't make sense, but if they could bring Ewan McGregor back, that would just make me the happiest boy in the galaxy.