Screen Time: The star power of 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' and 'Doctor Who' captivates FAN EXPO Boston crowd

Talk about star power.

The appearance of a Jedi master and renowned Time Lord made the closing day of FAN EXPO Boston a comic con people will soon never forget.

Ewan McGregor — who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three “Star Wars” prequels and the recent Disney+ limited-season "Obi-Wan Kenobi" — and David Tennant — the 10th incarnation of the Doctor on “Doctor Who" — provided enough star power and million-dollar smiles to light up the Eastern seaboard.

Before last weekend, McGregor had only been in the Bay State once before, in which he checked out colleges with one of his daughters, while Tennant was only in Boston for just four hours prior to doing his panel.

Both easily charmed their fans who came out in droves to hear them talk, possibly spill some behind-the-scenes gossip on their co-stars and, most importantly, reveal some, big top secret projects taking place in their respective universe.

Closing out the three days of panels, McGregor spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of more than 2,000 people, which was unofficially reported as the biggest attendance for a panel yet at FAN EXPO Boston. It certainly was for all weekend.

With McGregor, many questions focused on his involvement with “Star Wars” and the recent six-episode series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” streaming on Disney+, where he reprises the role of Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originated by Sir Alec Guinness in the original “Star Wars” movie and taken over by McGregor in 1999's “Star Wars: Episode One — The Phantom Menace.”

“When I first got the role back in 1997, I had done a bunch of stuff that was really not anything like 'Star Wars,' much more indie, small, independent movies,” McGregor said. “I, sort of, felt, very much like, a Danny Boyle’s actor. That’s who helped define me. I did 'Shallow Grave' with him (and) 'Trainspotting.' I worked with Peter Greenaway in a really artistic film called 'The Pillow Book.' The idea of being involved in this huge world was quite daunting.”

Once he landed the role, McGregor said, all he did was study Alec Guinness in the original “Star Wars.”

“I thought I got to grow up to be Alec Guinness, which is a funny way of approaching a role as an actor but it was really fascinating and I always tried to feel like that,” McGregor said. “Alec Guinness, as we all know, is this iconic, older, wise man. We know, all of us, who Obi-Wan Kenobi is from Alex Guinness. When you’re trying to play that guy at 24, 25 or 26, how ever old I was, jumping in and out of spacecrafts and hovercrafts and fighting killer droids and stuff, it’s kind of like being a rock in a hard place … So you just had to trust that it felt like Alec Guinness as a younger man."

McGregor said the difference between Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first “Star Wars” film and McGregor’s take on the character is the “twinkle” or lack there of.

“There’s something about Alec Guinness. I think he’s very witty. There’s something behind his eyes. There’s always a twinkle,” McGregor muses. “But, at the beginning of the series, we wanted to take Obi-Wan Kenobi someplace where the twinkle was gone, where he was in a bleak place.”

McGregor — whose uncle is Denis Lawson, the actor who played X-Wing pilot Wedge Antilles in the first “Star Wars” — said he saw the original sci-fi flick when he was 6 years old when it first came out.

“Me and my brother, I remember waiting outside the school in our school uniform, our red shorts and red socks, and my mom and dad picking us up in the car to go and see this movie that my uncle was in,” McGregor recalled. “Seeing my Uncle in the cinema is as exciting as anything that has ever been. Then it was ‘Star Wars.’ It just blew our brains out of our heads and I will never forget that, seeing him playing Wedge. ‘Look at the size of that thing,’ he says as they’re coming in to the Death Star. It was amazing.”

Not so amazing was the acting advice that his uncle gave his nephew when he pondered whether to do “Star Wars: Episode One — The Phantom Menace.”

“My uncle said, ‘If you want a career after 30, don’t do it,’” McGregor revealed. “I think, mainly, in his defense, it was because he was worried about becoming typecast or if you’re in something that is enormously successful, sometimes it is difficult afterwards to be seen in other kinds of roles. But I think I was just lucky enough to have a lot of work before 'Star Wars' so people already knew me as the actor I am.”

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” also reunites McGregor with Hayden Christensen, the actor who plays Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" prequels. Despite being sworn enemies, McGregor said the two men had a great relationship right from the start and picked up where they left off.

“(For ‘Phantom Menace’), Hayden and I, we had that fighting to do. So we spent a lot of time together at the fight club, at the fight gym, and then on set afterwards and off-set as well,” McGregor said. “Not having seen him for such a long time, it was just great to meet up with him before we started the series and get a chance to catch up on our lives and everything that has happened to us over the last 10 years of something since we saw each other last.”

McGregor also talked about his relationship with Liam Neeson, who plays Qui-Gon Jinn.

“Liam was a hero of mine. Liam, he's got to be 10 years, maybe a little bit more, older than I. By the time I was growing up and I wanted to be an actor, I was always watching Liam Neeson’s work. And he was involved in some beautiful work,” McGregor said. “So to get a chance to work with him and to have this great relationship that we got to create together, it was fantastic.”

When asked if he wanted to land a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, McGregor, who played the villainous Black Mask in “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” said, “I don’t know if I want to do that.”

“I love doing all kinds of work. It’s true. And I like to direct. And I like to be in the theater again … I definitely want to do this (Obi-Wan Kenobi) again. I’m in the ‘Star Wars’ world and I love that and I feel like I don’t need another,” McGregor said. “I shouldn’t say I wouldn’t do it because two years time, you’ll be like, ‘You said you weren’t going to do this.’ But, I’m not looking for it particularly.”

Despite his TARDIS being tardy by a day, Tennant, a no-show on Saturday, made up for lost time (and then some) on Sunday.

While rumors of the reason for his absence Saturday ran the gambit from “family emergency” to shooting a “Doctor Who Christmas Special,” his whereabouts was never discussed during his colorful panel.

Tennant did confess that it was very sad and difficult to say goodbye to playing the Doctor.

“It’s a big show. And it has a fan base and you are very aware that you are in something that people are very enthusiastic about and that’s humbling and exciting and overwhelming sometimes too. So there’s a mixture of things,” Tennant explained. “It felt like the right time to do it and move on but it is still sad. It still made it difficult. No matter how right the decision is when you love something that much and you love the people that you work with, you know nothing else you do will quite be like that … Also, the idea that it goes on without you is wonderful and terrible and that you can be replaced is, of course, quite improper.”

Although "Sex Education" actor Ncuti Gatwa is slated to play the 14th iteration of The Doctor, Tennant will reprise his role for the ​​​​​​show's ​60th Anniversary special.

Tennant told the packed house that he will be returning as the demon Crowley in the second season of “Good Omens,” based on the book “Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch,” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Tennant has nothing by praise for Gaiman.

“Neil Gaiman is a very hands-on showrunner. He has about 15 shows running and he tells us that ‘Good Omens’ is his favorite but I bet he has said that to ‘The Sandman’ as well,” Tennant said. “To get this finally on the screen was a real labor of love for Neil. He was very involved in every step of the way. As the story continues, so has his involvement … He’s a joy to get to know and to work with.”

During the panel, Tennant was asked some like awkward questions, including who was your favorite person to work with on Doctor Who?

“Could you imagine if I started picking favorites? Could you imagine the abuse I would get?” Tennant mused after getting the question. “My favorite was (big dramatic pause) … There was one actress who played the Doctor’s daughter. I don’t remember the name … But I think she was quite special.”

The actress Tennant is speaking of is Georgia Moffett, who played Jenny in the "Doctor's Daughter" episode of "Doctor Who." The two have been married since 2011 and have five children.

When ask what part of the TARDIS was his favorite, Tennant said, “The one level that never broke which became the level that steers off every time because it was the only one you could rely on to not come away in your hands. So the big level that did that. That was my favorite.”

Despite no longer being on “Doctor Who,” Tennant said the show is a weekly welcome to his home when it's on.

“We watch every time there’s a new episode. It’s a family event. And it’s been wonderful having Jodie (Whittaker, the 13th incarnation of the Doctor) in it to get the kids excited," Tennant said. "We haven’t missed one. And we’re looking forward to the next one. It has always been a family event because of my family. It will continue to be so I suspect."

Before getting off the panel stage, McGregor went through a lightening round of questions about “Star Wars.”

“Favorite planet, Tatooine or Naboo?” McGregor answered, “Naboo. It would be nicer for a holiday, wouldn’t it?”

"What is your favorite pet, a Porg or an Ewok?” McGregor answered, “It would be my Eopie, my camel (from “Obi-Wan Kenobi)'. It’s not one of the two (choices).”

“Favorite weapon, lightsaber or blaster?” McGregor answered, “Lightsaber, come on.”

Favorite droid, C3PO or R2D2?” Putting his hand over his face, McGregor answered, "Is Anthony (Daniels, the man who plays C3PO and was set up at FAN EXPO Boston) still in the building? I don’t know." Then he whispered, "R2D2."

'Favorite ship, an X-wing or a Tie-Fighter?' “X-wing.”

“Favorite Padawan, Anakin or Luke?’ McGregor answered with a shocked expression before saying sternly “Anakin.”

“Favorite fight, Darth Vader or Darth Maul?”  “I think the Darth Maul fight,” McGregor said. “That’s a hard one to beat.”

“Favorite order, Jedi or Sith?" “Come on,” McGregor moaned in disbelief.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: The star power of 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' and 'Doctor Who' captivates FAN EXPO Boston crowd