Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor has said he is “very touched” after being awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 53-year-old Scottish actor, who recently opened up on the ‘frightening’ reality of being a parent with his wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead, was inducted into the famous street with a speech from Hayden Christensen, who he starred alongside in two Star Wars movies.
Christensen, now 43, played Anakin Skywalker, the apprentice to McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in both 2002’s Attack of the Clones and 2005’s The Revenge of the Sith. Speaking highly of his friend, Christensen called McGregor “the best Jedi master anyone could’ve asked for”.
Christensen added that McGregor was “the coolest man on the planet” and described him as a “brother”.
He said: “I often think about the first time that I met you, and we were both in Australia, many moons ago, getting ready to do Star Wars episode two. “I was at the studio where we were going to be filming, and the producer was taking me around, showing me some things, and then he was going to go take me to meet Ewan for the first time.
“And I was so excited, I was already such a huge fan of his, and so I walk into this room where I’m told Ewan is going to be and before I can even put eyes on him, I hear his voice, and he exclaims my name with more enthusiasm than I think I’d ever heard it spoken with before.
“I turn and see him, and then he’s coming at me, and he comes and just gives me the biggest hug, like just the most disarmingly warm embrace, and we start chatting, and he’s just the nicest person.
“He’s telling me how excited he is to be working together and how much fun we’re going to have doing our lightsaber training, and he’s just beyond kind to me.
“It was immediately apparent to me that I was meeting someone truly special, and not just as an actor, but as a person, and that I was meeting a friend.”
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Also during the ceremony director Mike Mills who worked with McGregor on the 2010 Oscar-winning comedy-drama Beginners, said that his crew on the film “couldn’t wait for him [McGregor] to turn up in the morning” adding that the actor was “vulnerable” and could “go to such an authentic place”.Receiving the honour, McGregor said he was particularly pleased that his star would be next to that of his late friend Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the modern trilogy made by Disney.
Scottish actor Ewan McGregor poses with his wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead and his children, as he unveils his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Trainspotting star said: “Oh, goodness me, it’s impossible to follow these two intros, but I’ll try my very best. I just want to thank everybody, all of you, for coming today.
“I absolutely had no idea what it would feel like, or what it would mean, but it is meaning a great deal, and it feels very, very nice and I feel very touched by the whole thing.
“I’m so moved that I’m close to my old friend Carrie Fisher, on the pavement here, that means a great deal to me.”
Additional reporting by PA.