Obi-Wan Kenobi marked the first time we've seen the Sith Inquisitors in live-action, but the end result was, well, a little hit-and-miss. The villainous group looked great in Star Wars Rebels, but the translation from animation to live-action appeared to be something Lucasfilm really struggled with.
The Grand Inquisitor, in particular, was rather basic in appearance with a design many fans felt was more akin to a cosplayer than the formidable alien character we'd seen doggedly pursue Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. If we're being honest, Rupert Friend basically donned some face paint, but the actor addressed these criticisms head-on during a recent appearance at C2E2 (via SFFGazette.com).
Asked if there was ever any talk of making his head bigger so it's more in line with the cartoon, Friend responded: "Making my head bigger? It wasn't big enough? Yeah...the key word there, my friend, is 'cartoon.'"
There was also a pretty major difference between Friend's take on the villain and what Jason Isaacs did with him in Rebels. Asked whether he ever looked at the Disney XD series for inspiration, the actor explained, "When I got this role, I wasn’t familiar with the character, or the Inquisitors, or anything like that. So for me, it was completely fresh."
"New world, new character, and I wanted to relate to that in my own instinctive way first, but I then was made aware of Jason’s interpretation. The last thing I wanted to do was an impersonation of someone else’s interpretation," Friend continued. "So I let my own instincts come through first, and then I had a look at what he’d done, which I thought was terrific."
It's hard to fault the actor for that, though there's no denying that difference between the animated and live-action versions of The Grand Inquisitor was jarring.
We don't know if the villain will return in a future Disney+ TV show as none of the upcoming projects really fit timeline-wise. The leader of the Sith Inquisitors died in Rebels, but with rumours swirling about live-action flashbacks to the events of that show in Ahsoka, there's always a chance Friend will make a cameo appearance.
What did you think about Obi-Wan Kenobi's take on The Grand Inquisitor?