Suttirat Anne Larlarb (‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ costume designer) on how the crew ‘turned into a gaggle of teenagers’ as her Darth Vader costume was unveiled [Exclusive Video Interview]
“We needed to start this process as early as possible, almost a year before we actually saw him on camera in our midst, working away, squirreled away,” reveals Emmy-winning costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb about bringing the iconic supervillain Darth Vader to life. While the prospect of designing the many elaborate costumes required for the epic series would have been daunting enough, Larlarb knew that reimagining the iconic suit worn by the Vader was going to make a huge impact on the show, adding for our recent webchat, “We had access to all the existing Darth Vader costumes in the Lucasfilm archives and storage, so we could actually examine not only how they were built, but all the sort of aesthetic needs of the helmets, of the arm, and went through it with a fine tooth comb, and seeing where we could improve upon it technically.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
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In “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Emmy winner Ewan McGregor, returns as the titular Jedi master from the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, alongside Hayden Christensen, reprising his role as the iconic Darth Vader. Set 10 years after “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005), in which the Jedi were destroyed by Order 66 and Kenobi’s apprentice Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, it follows Kenobi as he sets out to rescue the kidnapped Princess Leia from the evil Empire, leading to a climactic confrontation and reckoning with the dark lord. The series co-stars Emmy nominee Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Sung Kang, Indira Varma, Oscar and Emmy nominee Kumail Nanjiani, Vivien Lyra Blair and Grant Feely as a young Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse reprising their roles as Owen and Beru Lars, Emmy winner Jimmy Smits returning as Bail Organa, Ian McDiarmid back as Vader’s master Emperor Palpatine, and special guest cameos from Oscar nominee Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn and Anthony Daniels as C3PO.
The six-episode limited series covers a lot of ground in the “Star Wars” universe, bridging the gap between the third film in the prequel trilogy and the original 1977 classic “Star Wars,” told from the perspective of Kenobi and his protégé-turned-nemesis. Looking back to the momentous day the suit was unveiled on set, Larlarb recalls that it literally stopped production, for just a few minutes, as onlookers watched in awe as the image of Darth Vader walked on set to the tune of the iconic Imperial March theme song playing in the background. “We were super busy on set. We’re in the thick of shooting, I think a month into it, so everybody’s in work mode. It’s crazy on set. It’s a night shoot, because you can’t introduce Darth Vader not in a night shoot,” she smiles. “And suddenly, Over the loudspeakers came the music, and he just walked out, and everybody stopped what they’re doing, no matter how busy there were, no matter what needed to be done. Everybody stopped, and the most professional, experienced work-laden people stopped, dropped all their tools, and turned into a gaggle of teenagers,” she says. “It was pretty amazing that a costume has that effect!”
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