Deborah Chow
The Goth Kid Who Took the Keys to Star Wars
Born in Toronto and raised in Mississauga, Deborah Chow became the first woman to direct live-action Star Wars with The Mandalorian's "Chapter 3: The Sin" in 2019 — and then directed all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, bringing Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen back face to face.
- 18 min listen
- Director
- Star Wars pioneer
- Screenwriter
Deborah Chow’s full 18 min audio biography, The Goth Kid Who Took the Keys to Star Wars, is available on Lyfestori for iOS. Listen to a free preview below.
A life in brief
Deborah Chow: life and timeline.
Her father, a Chinese-Australian film obsessive, screened Kurosawa samurai epics and John Woo gunfights in the family living room in suburban Toronto. Deborah Chow, a self-described goth kid who loved science fiction, studied cultural theory at McGill, earned a directing MFA at Columbia and spent a decade directing other people's television — Mr. Robot, Jessica Jones, Better Call Saul. In 2019 her episode of The Mandalorian made her the first woman to direct live-action Star Wars. Then Lucasfilm gave her all of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- 2002
Daypass
Her Columbia short, a quirky undead romantic comedy, plays festivals around the world and wins Best Short at the Turin Film Festival. It follows a first film made in her final year at McGill, inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
- 2003
Columbia MFA
Graduates from Columbia University's School of the Arts with an MFA in film directing, after moving to New York from Montreal.
- 2010
The High Cost of Living
Her first feature, written over almost five years and eight or nine drafts, stars Zach Braff as a drug dealer who enters the life of a woman he injured in a hit-and-run. It wins Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival.
- 2012
The television years begin
Directs episodes of the period crime drama Copper, the start of a decade spent moving from show to show — Reign, Mr. Robot, Jessica Jones, Lost in Space, The Man in the High Castle.
- 2018
Better Call Saul
Directs "Something Stupid", whose split-screen montage of Jimmy and Kim drifting apart over months is singled out by critics as the episode's standout sequence.
- 2019
Obi-Wan Kenobi announced
In September, before any of her Star Wars work has aired, Lucasfilm names her director of a limited series bringing back Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan.
- 2019
The Mandalorian, "Chapter 3: The Sin"
Released on 22 November, her episode — in which the bounty hunter fights his way out of a compound cradling the child — makes her the first woman to direct live-action Star Wars. She also directs "Chapter 7: The Reckoning".
- 2021
Directing Vader
After script rewrites and pandemic delays push filming back by almost a year, she shoots all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Hayden Christensen back as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader.
- 2022
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres
Disney calls the May premiere the most-watched Disney+ original series debut to that point. The same year her video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Black Summer" wins Best Rock at the MTV Video Music Awards.
- 2023
Five Emmy nominations
Obi-Wan Kenobi, ineligible for the 2022 cycle, competes in 2023 and earns five Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
Major achievements
Deborah Chow: major achievements.
- 01
First woman to direct live-action Star Wars
Forty-two years after the 1977 original, "Chapter 3: The Sin" put a woman's name in a live-action Star Wars directing credit for the first time. Bryce Dallas Howard's episode followed a week later.
- 02
A whole series, one point of view
She directed every episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi — six in all — giving the limited series a single visual and dramatic voice rather than the rotating directors of most streaming television.
- 03
Bringing back Anakin
She believed the story needed Hayden Christensen, absent from live action since Revenge of the Sith in 2005. His return to face Ewan McGregor became one of the series' headline announcements.
- 04
A debut that won at TIFF
The High Cost of Living, made on a small budget and tight schedule, won Best Canadian First Feature at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
- 05
A VMA for "Black Summer"
Her music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first single from Unlimited Love won Best Rock at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
Turning points
Deborah Chow: defining moments.
- Childhood
The living-room film school
Her father, born and raised in Australia to a Chinese family, showed her Kurosawa's samurai films and Hong Kong action cinema. One image from John Woo's Hard Boiled — a hero carrying a baby through a hospital shootout — stayed with her. She later pointed to it as an influence on her Mandalorian rescue sequence.
- Final year at McGill
The first short film
She had considered medicine and studied cultural theory with a minor in art history. Making a short inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari showed her that film combined everything she already loved — books, pictures, ideas and stories. She moved to New York for film school.
- 2018
"Something Stupid"
Years of episodic work had made her a dependable director, not a known one. Her split-screen montage in Better Call Saul was the kind of precise, emotional storytelling Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were looking for as they assembled directors for The Mandalorian.
- 2019–2022
Keeping Kenobi alive
Lucasfilm paused the series to rework scripts, then the pandemic halted production. Hossein Amini's draft was set aside and Joby Harold came aboard as writer. Chow stayed through every delay and directed the whole show when it finally shot in 2021.
What you’ll take away
Lessons from Deborah Chow’s life.
- 01
The unglamorous middle counts
Ten years of directing other people's episodes looked like treading water. It was where Lucasfilm found her — one split-screen montage in Better Call Saul at a time.
- 02
Your influences arrive early
The Kurosawa ronin and the John Woo gunfight both came from her father's living room. Decades later they shaped how she framed Obi-Wan and the Mandalorian's rescue of the child.
- 03
Protect the people in front of the camera
When Moses Ingram received hundreds of racist messages after Kenobi premiered, she credited Chow by name for the safe environment on set. A director's job extends past the final shot.
- 04
Let the work lead
She said she wanted to be known as a good director, not as a good female or Asian director — while understanding what her name in the credits meant to the next science-fiction kid in the suburbs.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Deborah Chow.
Who is Deborah Chow?
A Canadian film and television director and screenwriter. She was the first woman to direct live-action Star Wars, with The Mandalorian in 2019, and directed all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022.
What has Deborah Chow directed?
The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Better Call Saul, Mr. Robot, Jessica Jones, Lost in Space and The Man in the High Castle, among others. Her feature debut was The High Cost of Living (2010), and she directed the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Black Summer" video.
Which Better Call Saul episode did Deborah Chow direct?
"Something Stupid", in season four (2018). Its split-screen montage of Jimmy and Kim's lives drifting apart over several months became one of the most discussed sequences of the episode.
Which Mandalorian episodes did Deborah Chow direct?
"Chapter 3: The Sin" and "Chapter 7: The Reckoning", both in the first season in 2019. "The Sin", released on 22 November 2019, made her the first woman to direct a live-action Star Wars story.
Did Deborah Chow direct The Mandalorian and Grogu?
No. The 2026 film was directed by Jon Favreau. Chow's Star Wars directing work is on the first season of The Mandalorian and the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series.
How old is Deborah Chow?
Her exact birth date has not been publicly confirmed. She was born in Toronto in the early 1970s and graduated from Columbia's film directing programme in 2003.
Where did Deborah Chow go to school?
Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School in Mississauga, then McGill University in Montreal, where she studied cultural theory with a minor in art history. She earned an MFA in film directing from Columbia University.
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18 min · one sitting