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David Prowse has died

T & P said:
Am I right to think nobody bothered to tell him they were going to use a different actor to speak his lines in Star Wars until practically opening day at the cinemas? I seem to remember reading about it...
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I do remember a story that JEJ's voice was an afterthought, and KP was put out when they decided to overdub.

Fair play to him, hope he dined out on being Darth fucking Vader for life. That scene, that walk as he appears through the smoke. A proper villain :cool:.

I'm probably projecting my shallow understanding of the human emotional spectrum (especially at that age), but the story of Darth Vaders ultimate redemption, and Lukes forgiveness, had a profound effect on a generation :oops:
 
T & P said:
Am I right to think nobody bothered to tell him they were going to use a different actor to speak his lines in Star Wars until practically opening day at the cinemas? I seem to remember reading about it...
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He must have known that they replaced his voice well before Star Wars got released, whether they told him or not. That would have became clear when they didn't fly him to the US to post-synch his dialogue. He knew that his line readings were unusable due to wearing the helmet. They cast JEJ during post production in the States and Prowse claims that's because it would have been too expensive to fly him out. Outtakes of his own voice on set show that his accent and line delivery leaves something to be desired and the decision to replace his voice would have come early on. In all fairness, he wasn't a traditional actor, he was always cast for his imposing stature.
 
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Ted Striker said:
" a dying Vader has his helmet removed, actor Sebastian Shaw awaits beneath, and not Prowse. "

I didn't actually know that (it wasn't Keith Prowse) :oops: . That's gutting.
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Keith Prowse is an events company.
Sebastian Shaw used to go out with John Peel's mum.
 
Who was the only actor in the cast of A New Hope who, if I remember this correctly, opted for a larger one-off fee for his role rather than a smaller fee plus a share of the box office proceeds? Prowse or the guy who played Chewbacca I reckon? Or is this an urban myth I read somewhere?
 
Who was the only actor in the cast of A New Hope who, if I remember this correctly, opted for a larger one-off fee for his role rather than a smaller fee plus a share of the box office proceeds? Prowse or the guy who played Chewbacca I reckon? Or is this just an urban myth?
 
T & P said:
Who was the only actor in the cast of A New Hope who, if I remember this correctly, opted for a larger one-off fee for his role rather than a smaller fee plus a share of the box office proceeds? Prowse or the guy who played Chewbacca I reckon? Or is this just an urban myth?
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Dunno about Prowse but Peter Mayhew didn't make much from New Hope. Alec Guinness on the other hand negotiated 2.25% of the profits and made more money than his previous 80 films combined.
 
T & P said:
Who was the only actor in the cast of A New Hope who, if I remember this correctly, opted for a larger one-off fee for his role rather than a smaller fee plus a share of the box office proceeds? Prowse or the guy who played Chewbacca I reckon? Or is this just an urban myth?
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He lived near me in Addiscombe in a very normal 3 bed semi.
You tend to think film people live in solid gold mansions
 
T & P said:
Who was the only actor in the cast of A New Hope who, if I remember this correctly, opted for a larger one-off fee for his role rather than a smaller fee plus a share of the box office proceeds? Prowse or the guy who played Chewbacca I reckon? Or is this just an urban myth?
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They both got very little money as they were considered glorified stand-ins rather than actors. They certainly wouldn't have been offered profit points. Some of the lead actors negotiated profit points, Alec Guiness got the most as he was the only big star at the time.
 
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Prowse must be a contender for having the biggest film role that did nothing for your career. Played one of the most recognisable characters in history, in the biggest film franchise of all time, then went straight back to bit parts in Morecambe and Wise sketches.
 
Buddy Bradley said:
Prowse must be a contender for having the biggest film role that did nothing for your career. Played one of the most recognisable characters in history, in the biggest film franchise of all time, then went straight back to bit parts in Morecambe and Wise sketches.
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TBF you could say at least one or two of others haven’t done that much either outside of the Star Wars universe. I don’t recall ever seeing Anthony Daniels or Peter Mayhew in anything else of any merit. I see on IMDB they both have been in other stuff but all pretty minor.

Daniels has been busy as fuck with the SW universe anyway. He seems to have voiced C-3PO in literally every single appearance of the character, down to the Lego Star Wars animation miniseries. He must be loaded, that bloke must... :D

ETA Not to mention some of the main leads, most notably Mark Hamill, who for two decades was all but a recluse. Though I love the fact that in the last decade or so he’s become much visible and active.
 
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You aren't going to have an acting career if an audience doesn't get to see your face on screen and (with the exception of Daniels) never hears your voice.
 
Reno said:
You aren't going to have an acting career if an audience doesn't get to see your face on screen and (with the exception of Daniels) never hears your voice.
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In particular if the main reason for getting roles is your exceptional physical features, I guess... But then again that very reason might provide you a fruitful acing career, just one in which you’re mostly in rubber suits.

Doug Jones off Star Trek Discovery, Hellboy and countless others is a good example of that. He might not get recognised as much on the street as other actors, but what a career...

The Spanish bloke who played the Medeiros girl in the R.E.C. horror films is apparently the go-to guy for scary, super tall, long limbed horror characters due to his physical characteristics, so he’s probably never in want of job offers.
 
T & P said:
TBF you could say at least one or two of others haven’t done that much either outside of the Star Wars universe. I don’t recall ever seeing Anthony Daniels or Peter Mayhew in anything else of any merit. I see on IMDB they both have been in other stuff but all pretty minor.

Daniels has been busy as fuck with the SW universe anyway. He seems to have voiced C-3PO in literally every single appearance of the character, down to the Lego Star Wars animation miniseries. He must be loaded, that bloke must... :D

ETA Not to mention some of the main leads, most notably Mark Hamill, who for two decades was all but a recluse. Though I love the fact that in the last decade or so he’s become much visible and active.
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After RotJ, he didn't do a film for 5 or 6 years.
 
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