**SPOILER ALERT** J.J. Abrams brought Ewan McGregor back for Star Wars voice cameo

Ewan McGregor returned to the Star Wars franchise for a brief vocal appearance in The Force Awakens at the request of new director J.J. Abrams.
The Scottish actor portrayed a younger version of Sir Alec Guinness’ original trilogy character Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels, and Abrams reveals they invited McGregor back for a little cameo for Episode VII for a key flashback scene featuring Daisy Ridley’s character, Rey.
The line, “Rey… these are your first steps”, can be heard during a scene at Maz Kanata’s castle, after she finds Luke Skywalker’s old lightsaber hidden away in a chest.
“The idea of the voices was, we wanted the audience to feel – but not necessarily be presented right in your face – this idea that familiar, Force-strong voices were connecting with her,” Abrams tells Entertainment Weekly. “At least as well as they could.
“You do hear a little bit of Yoda. You hear Luke yelling out, ‘Nooo!’ from that moment in Empire (Strikes Back). And you hear Obi-Wan at the end say, ‘Rey… these are your first steps.'”
“We asked Ewan McGregor to come in and do the line,” Abrams explains. “And he was awesome and we were very grateful. He was incredibly sweet and handsome, and all that stuff. Then he rode off on his motorcycle. Literally the coolest voiceover actor ever.”
However, the filmmakers were also able to add a small vocal from the late Guinness in post-production, too, much to Abrams’ surprise.
“I said, ‘That’s cool, is that the thing from Ewan McGregor?'” Abram recalls. “He (one of the post-production crew) said, ‘No, we took a line from Alec Guinness saying, ‘Afraid’.’ They cut it, and you hear the performance – he’s saying it the way I would have begged Alec Guinness to have said it. It is so crazy perfect. So when you hear Obi-Wan talk to Rey it is both Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor doing the voice.”