Friday 25 March 2016

star wars - Why did three actors play Darth Vader?

David Prowse definitely did not have the right voice. He is from Bristol in the UK, and has a Bristolian accent, what would be described as in the UK as a 'west country accent'. To many ears this sounds a little parochial - most people would think this more the accent for a farmer than a galactic enforcer for the Emperor, however unfair that comparison might be. However David Prowse was a body-builder, had acting experience so he had the right look at 6 foot 6 inches tall. He was also from the UK where many of the scenes involving Vader were made.



James Earl Jones is to a degree the opposite - he has an amazing voice, and although a more accomplished actor than Prowse, does not have the right bodybuilder physical presence and is (only) 6 foot 2 inches tall.



Finally, why Sebastian Shaw and not Prowse for the final scene with Vader? They may have thought that Prowse, only in his late 40's, might look a little too young to be Luke's father, and the accent would have been too striking a difference to the 'in helmet' voice. Of course with the later casting of Hayden Christensen as the young Anakin, the age would have been about right.

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