Darth Vader is arguably one of the most iconic Star Wars characters ever and James Earl Jones did a wonderful job of making him immortal. First appearing on screens in 1977, Darth Vader has remained an enduring character in the history of cinema. Not only has he become immortalized in popular culture, but is also one of the most fan-loved antagonists.
Despite Jones’s wonderful job of voicing the character and making it a cinema legend, the Star Wars actor was paid just $7,000, a criminally lower salary for the role. However, it was still better than what the actor who was the ‘body’ of Darth Vader was paid.
James Earl Jones Salary For Voicing Darth Vader
When David Prowse was cast as Darth Vader, Star Wars director George Lucas knew that while he had all the physical aspects to star as the iconic character, he lacked majorly when it came to the voice part. Lucas wanted more of a deep, booming voice to create a powerful and intense impact. And so James Earl Jones was hired as the voice behind Darth Vader. He retold the story in an interview with the American Film Institute.
“George wanted, pardon the expression, a dark voice. So he hires a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters. And that’s the voice. That’s me.”
Despite voicing the character, Jones was paid a criminally low salary for the iconic role.
“I lucked out, from all these so-called handicaps, for a job that paid $7,000! And I thought that was good money. And I got to be a voice on a movie.”
At that time the actor was happy enough to get such an amount for just a voiceover. However, for the body of Darth Vader aka late actor David Prowse, he is known to have made nothing from the role (via Yahoo!).
How Much Did David Prowse Get For Darth Vader?
If James Earl Jones immortalized Darth Vader through his intense voice, then the late actor David Prowse helped in providing the right physicality for the role. While both actor’s contribution was equally important, Prowse had signed up a contract that reported he would only be paid from the net profits of the movie.
In an interview with Equity Magazine (via SlashFilm) the actor stated,
“I get these occasional letters from Lucasfilm saying that we regret to inform you that as Return of the Jedi has never gone into profit, we’ve got nothing to send you. Now here we’re talking about one of the biggest releases of all time. I don’t want to look like I’m b*tching about it, but on the other hand, if there’s a pot of gold somewhere that I ought to be having a share of, I would like to see it.”
Even though the movie was an immense success, apparently on paper, thanks to creative Hollywood accounting, the movie has yet to make a profit.
The Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.
