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Star Wars: A New Hope is considered to be a major milestone in the history of the film industry, and George Lucas, the brainchild, broke all conventions and experimented on another level. One such example is his legendary (and villainous) creation, Lord Darth Vader, which reportedly took a lot of scouting and patience to be executed perfectly.
As we know, David Prowse is the man who stands underneath that iconic suit, but it is also worth mentioning how James Earl Jones' unique, one-in-a-million baritone added more life to the character. Looking back in time (about 15 years ago), it reminds us of an interview with AFI where Jones mentioned why Lucas got him on board to play the infamous Star Wars antagonist's voice. To quote his words:
"George thought he wanted a , pardon the expression, darker voice."
David Prowse did more than justice to Star Wars' Vader but James Earl Jones' voice was pivotal to complete the character
Back in July 2009, Star Wars legend James Earl Jones shared his casting experience in an interview with the American Film Institute. According to his statement, it took a lot of calculations for George Lucas to find the right physique and the perfect voice in order to justify Vader.
David Prowse, as mentioned by Jones in the interview, fit perfectly in Vader's suit with his tall stature (almost 6 and a half feet) and his 'Scottish accent,' and the bass in his voice made it 'very effective.' But Lucas needed something more 'dark' and deep (keeping in mind the intensity of the role), so as James said:
"He hires a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters and that's the voice and that's me."
He further added how he jumped at the opportunity and also thanked his luck to have landed such a potentially big role. Like Jones said:
"I got lucked out, you know, from all these so-called handicaps. I locked out to get a job that paid me $7000. 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.
In the same interview with AFI, James Earl Jones had also mentioned how there was no question of 'lip syncing' while voicing Darth Vader as:
"There was no lip."
So, the late star observed David Prowse, aka Darth Vader's 'body language,' while doing his part. Jones also recalled that while filming the second film (Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back), Prowse was playing around, throwing a few Vader lines.
It was at that point when helmer Irvin Kershner used a soundtrack with his own voice, and according to Jones:
"It was scary as hell."
However, the late James Earl Jones (as he mentioned) had put in a lot of effort to make Vader's voice really interesting as well as subtle. To be precise, he wanted it to be 'psychologically oriented' - not to mention how it turned out to be a gem over the years.
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Also Read: Orson Welles almost made the cut for Darth Vader's voice in Star Wars, instead of James Earl Jones
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