James Earl Jones is best known for being the voice of the Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
The legendary actor tragically died at the age of 93 on Monday morning (September 9) at his home in Dutchess County, New York. According to CBS, the star was surrounded by his family in his final moments.
The Hollywood veteran won three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award during his incredible career on the silver screen. But what fans may not know, is that the actor was massively underpaid for his role in the sci-fi movie franchise.
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Movie buffs will know it was David Prowse who portrayed Darth Vader on set, wearing the infamous black costume and oversized mask. However, George Lucas thought the star’s voice wasn’t quite the right fit for the terrifying villain.
(Image: Getty Images North America)
James revealed in a 2010 Daily Mail interview that Lucas “realised he might be too recognisable, so he hired me to do the voice, by just reading the words off the page. I did it in a couple of hours.”
He added in a 2009 interview with the American Film Institute that he was paid just $7,000 (approximately £5,300) for his voice work that turned Darth Vader into the infamous evil figure. Not only that, but Jones was uncredited in both 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.
Thankfully, the star’s name was credited in 1983’s Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Jones explained: “George wanted… pardon the expression… a darker voice, so he hires a guy who was born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters, and that’s the voice.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
“I lucked out, from all those so-called handicaps, I lucked out to get a job that paid me $7,000, and I thought that was good money, and I got to be a voice on a movie. It was great fun to be a part of that.”
He later added in the interview that when he met with the Lucas – who was producing the film while handing the directorial reins to Irvin Kershner – Jones wated to make Vader “more interesting”. Jones explained: “George said, ‘We don’t know what we did right, so let’s just try what we did.’
“Naturally, I wanted to make Darth Vader more interesting, more subtle, more psychologically oriented. He [Lucas] said, ‘No, no… you’ve got to keep his voice on a very narrow band of inflection, ‘cause he ain’t human, really. So that was the answer’.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
James referred to his voice work as “special effects” in that interview, and explained in 2008 why he wasn’t credited in the first two movies. He began: “When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her.
“And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought, ‘No, she was just special effects’. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, ‘No, I’m just special effects’.
“But it became so identified by the third one, I thought, ‘OK, I’ll let them put my name on it’.” Jones returned to voice Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of the Skywalker.
(Image: WireImage)
The infamous actor retired from acting in 2021 after reprising his role as King Jaffe Joffer in Coming 2 America. He also signed a deal in 2022 with Respeecher and Lucsfilm, authorising the companies to use his archived audio for future Darth Vader voice performances.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
