In a galaxy far, far away (a.k.a., Hollywood, 1977), James Earl Jones, who gave voice to one of cinema’s most fearsome villains, Darth Vader, was paid a surprisingly small fee: $7,000. Yes, for just a single day of voice work on Star Wars, the actor received what seemed decent at the time—though only a fraction of what his co-stars earned.
The backstory? George Lucas had a vision. He needed a voice as iconic as the character—Vader, towering, masked, and carrying a voice that could shiver anyone to their core. British actor David Prowse brought the physicality, but Lucas wanted that deep, authoritative tone. Lucas even considered Orson Welles for the part, but he was just too recognizable. Then, Jones’s agent got a call. The rest is history.
The Mississippi-born actor, who moved to Michigan after his father left and struggled with a stutter as a child, turned what some would call “handicaps” into a celebrated career. Reflecting on the early Star Wars days, Jones said, “George wanted, pardon the expression, a dark voice.” And so it was. After one quick session, Jones brought Darth Vader to life—no flashy credits or royal paycheck. He went uncredited until Return of the Jedi in 1983, only beginning to receive recognition for his contribution to Star Wars years later.
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Meanwhile, his co-stars raked in notably more extensive checks. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, took home $650,000, and Harrison Ford earned $10,000 as Han Solo (which ballooned to $500,000 by the third film). But Jones didn’t dwell on it. “I thought that was good money,” he recalled, feeling more thrilled to be part of movie magic than anything else.
From those modest beginnings, Jones’s career blossomed. The actor secured two Emmys, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and two Tonys. His roles in The Lion King, Field of Dreams, and countless stage performances solidified his place as an entertainment legend. His portrayal of Darth Vader? Well, it became so beloved that Lucasfilm decided to preserve his voice with the help of artificial intelligence.
In 2022, Jones signed over his voice archives to Respeecher, an AI company based in Ukraine, permitting Lucasfilm to use AI recreations of his iconic tones. This digital Darth Vader even made it into Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series, bringing a certain nostalgia to new audiences. With 10,000 files exchanged between Skywalker Sound and Respeecher, the process was intense, mainly as Respeecher raced to complete the work while navigating challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Not everyone’s thrilled with the AI era, though. Scarlett Johansson, for instance, voiced concerns over using actors’ voices without consent after a replica of her voice surfaced for a ChatGPT bot. However, Respeecher’s CEO assures that consent is vital: “Consent is obtained from those who own the rights; in case of deceased actors, it could be estate or family.”
The magic of Star Wars will live on, even if it takes a thousand files and a few AI tweaks to keep it going. For James Earl Jones, his $7,000 role as Vader, at first a simple gig, became an immortal part of film lore. And in Star Wars, the Force—and James’s baritone—is forever strong.
For more such updates, check out Hollywood News.
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