Alec Guinness Didn’t Take ‘Star Wars’ Very Seriously. No One Should, Really
It’s a fairy tale, chill out
Star Wars is pretty silly stuff. That doesn’t mean George Lucas’s modern fairy tale about knights, princesses, and monsters isn’t complex and important pop art. There’s a message, too. Friendship. Freedom. Diversity.
But it’s silly. You know that. I know that. Deep down, fans know it too.
And so did Sir Alec Guinness, the original Obi-Wan Kenobi. Guinness famously called Star Wars “rubbish” in private letters he wrote to friends from the set. The Academy-award winner took the part because Lucas’ story had a “sense of moral good and fun” but mostly because of the money. His deal with the studio was generous, and his only condition was that he be spared having to promote the movie.
The rest is Hollywood history. Guinness was professional and engaged during the shoot, and, again in letters, he complained about the script and how the younger stars treated the 62-year-old “as if I was 106.” And why wouldn’t Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford be overly respectful to Guinness? The man was a legend, the star of David Lean epics like Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia and whimsical, sharp-elbowed comedies like The Man In The White Suit before those.
