Liam Neeson has revealed a hilarious reason why he and co-star Ewan McGregor received a scolding from George Lucas on the set of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.
In the late 1990s, the Star Wars franchises received a reboot with the first of three prequel movies, with Neeson hired to play Qui-Gon Jinn and McGregor cast to play a younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
On their first day on set, the pair finally got their hands on a lightsaber, but couldn't help themselves from making the famous lightsaber sound!
READ MORE: Idris Elba explains why he LOST interest in playing James Bond
"The first time I actually had to pull the lightsaber and there’s just a handle and a bit of alumina tube with green tape - mine was green because I’m Irish, Irish Jedi - and Ewan’s was red or something," Neeson said on Conan O'Brien's podcast.
"So the first time we got to pull them at the start of a little fight. We both automatically went and action … George said let’s cut that. Boys we can add that in later ... Of course we knew that."
At the time of the release of The Phantom Menace, it received negative reviews from the general public and scathing reviews from Star Wars fanatics, who naturally compared the film to the first trilogy.
The prequel trilogy has since been treated more favourably by fans looking back nostalgically.
Neeson: There's too much Star Wars content
After Disney purchased Star Wars and Lucasfilm in 2012, the studio quickly started production on a new sequel trilogy as well as various movie and television spin-offs.
The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and Ahsoka have all been released on Disney+ over the last couple of years.
And, Neeson believes there's too much Star Wars content.
"I mean it is a cult. There's so many movies and spin-offs now I think it's diluting the whole thing," he confessed.
"That's my personal thing."
Neeson did make a short cameo appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Comments (0)