AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE RETURN OF OBI-WAN KENOBI!

Shielding his eyes from blue screen glare, Sir Alec Guinness confers with Irvin Kershner on his return as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Though he'd been sounded out after filming of the original Star Wars in 1976 about returning to the role of the netherworld vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi for a potential sequel, of which Sir Alec Guinness seemed happy to do, getting the venerable and distinguished British actor actually back proved difficult by 1979. Despite assurances and the usual contract/profit negotiations, things weren't truly set in stone for the elder statesman Jedi's return until September 1979, when Guinness filmed his brief scenes for The Empire Strikes Back in a single successful day at Elstree Studios (and superimposed next to Yoda in the finished film sequence on Dagobah- the actor having never met his alien co-star 'in the flesh' until insert filming on Return of the Jedi). Though suffering uncomfortably from a mild eye irritation at the time (shielding his face from blue screen lighting from time to time), Guinness enjoyed meeting George Lucas and catching-up with his former, still enthusiastic young co-star Mark Hamill.