As an actor’s career kicks off, it becomes increasingly important to pick the right movies. After all, committing to a single project for months on end means a star is often unable to sign onto any other roles. Such might have been the case for Ewan McGregor. The actor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Rumors eventually circulated that his commitment to the “galaxy far, far away” kept him from starring in The Matrix. But is it true?

Ewan McGregor was an up-and-coming star before ‘Star Wars’

Even now, many fans perhaps know McGregor best as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars saga. But he already had appeared in more than a dozen movies prior to being cast in that role. McGregor’s first movie was 1994 comedy-drama Being Human, a notorious box office flop. However, he didn’t have long to wait for his breakthrough role.