While Star Wars may remain one of the most iconic IPs in the world, creator George Lucas had a difficult time while making the film as there was nothing like it that had ever been done before. Lucas’ vision spanned galaxies far away, and creatures that are on the same plane as humans on different planets other than Earth were met with skepticism along the way.
Among the many people in Lucas’ team who were skeptical was Darth Vader himself. Actor David Prowse played the imposing villain in the original trilogy and was voiced by James Earl Jones. Prowse mentioned in an interview that he was first offered the role of Chewbacca in the film, which he found ridiculous.
David Prowse Found George Lucas’ Chewbacca Ridiculous
While Darth Vader’s iconic voice credits its menace and imposing quality to actor James Earl Jones, it can credit its looming physicality to British bodybuilder and actor David Prowse. The late actor was cast as Darth Vader in the first film, Star Wars: A New Hope, and played the role in the sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi.
Prowse had experience as a bodybuilder and was known as the superhero Green Cross Man in the UK. He got his breakthrough role in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, in which he played the role of a manservant. He was reportedly noticed by George Lucas for this role and was approached by the director for a role in Star Wars.
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In an old interview taken during the release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Prowse revealed that George Lucas had approached him with two roles, one of which was the loveable Wookie Chewbacca. He said,
“I was sitting at home one day and I got a phone call from my agent saying, ‘Can you go and see George Lucas?’ I went up to the 20th Century Fox office and George said, ‘I’m making this film which is sort of a space fantasy and I got two parts I like you consider’…He said, ‘The first part is of a character called Chewbacca’. I said, ‘What the hell is a Chewbacca?’ He said it was a furry-type gorilla…I didn’t fancy three months in a gorilla suit.”
After disregarding Chewbacca as he did not want to spend the entirety of a shoot in a gorilla suit, Prowse asked which was the second part, and George Lucas pitched Darth Vader as the antagonist. David Prowse mentioned that he immediately agreed to the role.
David Prowse Was Shunned By George Lucas
While it is impossible to imagine Darth Vader’s iconic opening walk to ‘The Imperial March’ without David Prowse’s incredible physical performance, he actually got himself into trouble and was replaced without any information by George Lucas. He reportedly shunned Prowse after he unintentionally spoiled one of the greatest twists in history.
After the success of Star Wars, David Prowse did a press tour much like the rest of the cast and was interviewed in Berkeley. In the interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Prowse reportedly revealed the twist that Darth Vader was Luke Skywaker’s father in a thinly veiled statement.
Though Prowse was not aware of the twist, the statement in retrospect was dangerous. Talking about possible plot points in Star Wars III, he said,
“Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are hooked up in a do-or-die lightsaber duel when Luke learns that Darth is, in fact, his long-lost father…Father can’t kill son, son can’t kill father. So they live again to star in Star Wars IV.”
This along with another unintentional mess up after the release of The Empire Strikes Back which leaked that Darth Vader would die at the end of The Return of the Jedi led George Lucas to replace David Prowse at the end of the third film with Sebastian Shaw. The actor is seen as Anakin Skywalker after Vader removes his helmet.
David Prowse was also reportedly banned from appearing in any official Star Wars conventions. The long-standing feud between Lucas and Prowse finally ended when Prowse passed away in 2020, and George Lucas paid his tribute to the late star.
