With the highly anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series finally launching on Disney+ today, you might be wondering where you've seen one of the actresses before. There's been a lot of rumors circulating about who might be involved in the series and which actors might be returning, but it's one of the new additions to the Star Wars cast that's gaining a lot of the attention. Trailers heavily teased a young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) as we saw him being watched over by Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), but surprisingly, it was his sister who became the main focus of the first two episodes. Enter young Princess Leia Organa, superbly portrayed by rising actress Vivien Lyra Blair.
You wouldn't be mistaken for thinking Blair looks very familiar. That's because she starred as 'Girl' in Netflix's 2018 hit Bird Box alongside Sandra Bullock. The film was a huge success, going on to be one of the platform's biggest ever releases, and has clearly been a launchpad for her young career. Astonishingly, at only 9 years old, she already has 12 acting credits listed on IMDB. After also featuring in the Apple TV+ show Mr. Corman alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Blair is racking up quite the resume, and Obi-Wan Kenobi is only going to make it look all the more impressive.
Obi Wan Kenobi is set ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and Order 66, making Leia around 10 years old. The series sees young Leia captured by bounty hunters under the orders of Inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram) as a plan to lure out Kenobi, who had been living in exile after Order 66. Bail Organa, portrayed by the returning Jimmy Smits, seeks out the help of Kenobi to rescue Leia, and he keeps his vow to protect the Skywalker twins, thus the plan to lure him out was a success. At this point, it's unclear how much more of Leia we'll see as the season goes forward, but she has already had a pivotal role as this sets up the rest of the story.
Blair does a stellar job as Leia and seems to be the perfect casting. She captures the essence of the character brilliantly, showing us the feisty side we loved from Carrie Fisher's performances. Her character becomes instantly recognizable after we see her brutally putdown her cousin in a fashion which Fisher became well-known and well-loved for. There's also some clear familial traits to her personality, with Kenobi noting how she fondly reminds him of an old friend, a clear reference to her mother Padmé. Taking such an iconic role was no small ask for child star Blair, but she has taken to it with ease and fans on social media have already been heaping praise on the actress.
After such a strong start to the series, it's exciting to see how Leia's story progresses under her newest look. With a role as big as this, Blair's career is surely only going to skyrocket from here, and she's definitely one to look out for in the future.
The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are streaming on Disney+, with new episode released weekly every Wednesday.