The epic universe of Star Wars has given fans a plethora of utterly memorable characters that will live on in their memory for years and years to come still. Ranging from Anakin Skywalker to his son Luke, and from General Grievous to Qui-Gon Jinn, there have been plenty of memorable faces on both sides of the epic space opera.
The latter, Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi master introduced in The Phantom Menace, gave Liam Neeson his debut in the franchise, and he only has positive memories from his time on the sets. As a matter of fact, the now 72-year-old actor had the time of his life while playing around with lightsabers on the set.
During an interview on Conan O’Brien’s Needs A Friend podcast, Neeson explained the hilarious incident that occured when he and Ewan McGregor attempted to shoot their first scene, involving lightsabers.
Liam Neeson was told by George Lucas that he need not make ‘lightsaber noise’ while filming The Phantom Menace
Liam Neeson was merely a fan of the epic space opera before he got the role in question. Playing the Jedi master who initially discovers a young Anakin Skywalker and oversees his training, there were plenty of scenes in which Neeson picked up a lightsaber, both during training and during actual fights.
Regardless, when Neeson first picked up the lightsaber to shoot a scene that also involved Ewan McGregor’s Owi-Wan Kenobi, both the actors hilariously came up with sound effects for their weapons:
The first time I actually had to pull the lightsaber and there’s just a handle and a bit of alumina tube with green tape — mine was green because I’m Irish, Irish Jedi — and Ewan’s was red or something.So the first time we got to pull them at the start of a little fight, we both automatically went and action (made lightsaber sound effect noises)
This resulted in George Lucas giving them the following advice:
George said, ‘Let’s cut that. Boys we can add that (noise) in later’ … Of course we knew that.
Needless to say, the hilarious sound effects would have understandably taken the focus away from the scene itself. Still, one can understand the temptation, considering most fans will also respond similarly, if asked to enact a scene with a lightsaber.
Star Wars fans are unlikely to see Liam Neeson reprise his iconic role
Considering his character was killed off in The Phantom Menace, which in itself was an attempt from Lucas to show Jedi Masters as vulnerable ‘people who can also be killed,’ there is little to no scope of a potential return for Neeson. Furthermore, while the character himself has appeared in various flashback scenes ever since, there is also little possibility of Neeson returning for a TV series.
The actor himself stated the following in an interview (via Yahoo), hilariously claiming that he is simply too big for television:
No. I don’t do television. I don’t do the small screen.
Of course, while fans will undoubtedly love to seem him back, there is little to argue against this claim, considering the kind of iconic roles Liam Neeson has taken up in his storied career. The Taken actor brought forth a level of intensity to his Star Wars role that not many can manage, and will undoubtedly be towards the top of the list of the most memorable characters the series has given fans, since the first movie.
The Phantom Menace is available to be watched on Disney+.
