“My daughter’s in that same scene”: George Lucas’ Response to Chinese American Actress Claiming Her Nude Playboy Photoshoot is Why She’s Not in Revenge of the Sith

George Lucas’s interstellar adventures in a galaxy far, far away have run into their fair share of troubles in the real world too. Star Wars may be one of the most prized, critically celebrated, universally loved, and economically successful franchises ever dreamed up by Hollywood. But nothing comes close to the amount of controversies it has invited simply by breathing in the wrong direction.

After the legendary launch of the sci-fi franchise and its initial few years of unparalleled success, Star Wars came to a halt with its prequel trilogy after problematic elements from the movies and the toxicity of the fandom merged to turn every minor grievance into a divisive subject of monstrous proportions.

Among them belonged a Chinese actress whose claims about her cut scene from one of the prequel trilogy films not only colored the franchise in a bad light, but also served to call out the studio creatives, executives, and producers of Lucasfilm as misogynists.

George Lucas Hits a Snag With Star Wars: Episode III

After the incredible success of Star Wars at the tail-end of the 20th century, almost every industry actor cast in the franchise was assured of breaking out in Hollywood based on their exposure to the IP alone. But the same could not be expected from everyone. Some actors never get to make it to the big screen at all despite being contractually involved with a film’s production.

Editing a film before it is ready for the theatrical cut often involves leaving several unnecessary scenes on the cutting room floor and assembling the remaining pieces to create a cohesive masterpiece. Unfortunately, George Lucas was not aware of the backlash that was to come after a scene failed to make it to the final cut of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith when it premiered in theaters all over the world.

While Revenge of the Sith had its flaws and shortcomings, George Lucas never expected that being branded as a misogynist over a deleted scene was something he would need to contend with one day.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of Bai Ling

While to the average viewers, a film merely offers a spectacle outside the reaches of reality under the suspension of disbelief, for the crew and the actors, it represents their hopes, dreams, ambitions, careers, and livelihoods. For Chinese star Bai Ling, Revenge of the Sith was a stepping stone to her unquestioned Hollywood glory.

However, her much-anticipated scene in Revenge of the Sith was cut out of the film in its final version, which in turn seemed fishy due to the convenient timing of Ling’s Playboy magazine cover shoot. The situation became further muddied due to her pose involving a lightsaber paired with minimalist attire. The actress revealed [via Contact Music]:

I see the human body as beautiful and not p*rn*graphic, but maybe the Star Wars producers did not see what I did. I am in shock.

George Lucas refused to take the hit lying down and claimed: “She was cut out of the movie very early on. My daughter’s in that same scene. My daughter was cut as well. My other daughter was in another scene and that was cut as well.”

Now, after years of volatile on-screen and off-screen controversies surrounding the franchise, Star Wars has been enjoying a relative era of peace and creative renaissance with projects such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rogue One, Andor, and Ahsoka.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is available to stream on Disney+