Lots of people love going to theme parks like Disneyland. While some famous celebs are full on Disney Adults, others just enjoy the occasional day at a theme park like everybody else. Often celebrities have to use VIP services to keep from getting mobbed in the parks. However, Star Wars icon Ewan McGregor apparently doesn’t have that problem, as he once went to Disneyland (on SW Day) and nobody recognized him.
In a post shared to Instragram by The Zach Sang Show, McGregor’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead reveals that the couple once went to Disneyland together and that the Obi-Wan Kenobi actor took no precautions to avoid being recognized beyond wearing a hat. But somehow, he made it through a day at the park without anybody realizing it was him.
Disneyland has done regular Star Wars Nite events after hours for the last several years, and they’re very popular. It’s likely one of those events that Winstead is referring to, though the park has also done what it calls Season of the Force, bridging attention to Star Wars for several months with special food items, attraction overlays and other experiences.
Even under normal Disneyland circumstances, I’d expect somebody would notice Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead walking around together, but as the actress points out, the circumstances of the time period meant that there were people in the park dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi, who apparently walked right by Kenobi without realizing it.
Meeting this couple would be a big deal for any serious Star Wars fan. In addition to McGregor playing Obi-Wan in thew prequel films and the follow up Disney+ series, Winstead played the live-action version of popular character Hera Syndulla in the first season of Disney+’s Ahsoka series. Expectations are that she will return in some capacity for Season 2 of the upcoming Star Wars series, which is set to debut sometime next year and be available with a Disney+ subscription.
To be fair, as Winstead points out, nobody is going to be standing in line for Hyperspace Mountain and expect to have somebody famous standing next to them. Even if you saw a major celebrity at Disneyland, if they didn’t have the VIP host with them, you’d have no reason to believe it was somebody famous and likely wouldn’t give them a second look.
As a theme park writer who also covers Hollywood I’ll admit I always keep my eyes open for “plaids” the VIP tour guides, to see who might be with them. I figure it’s only a matter of time before I run into major Disney Adults like Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Gad or John Stamos. Or possibly Gad and Stamos, singing on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Of course, now that I know Ewan McGregor can walk around Disneyland without being recognized, this clearly means there isn’t enough Obi-wan in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. If Luke Skywalker can be added to the land, clearly Obi-Wan can. Perhaps McGregor could visit the park when the character debuts, it’s not like anybody will bother him.