𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

ten.

—— which actor played darth vader?

❝ when sebastian shaw was revealed in star wars: episode vi - return of the jedi (1983) as the "man behind darth vader's mask", darth vader became the first recurring role in a movie series to be played by three actors at the same time: body by prowse, voice by james earl jones and face by sebastian shaw. ❞ [imdb]

darth vader is one of the most characters of all time; his intimidating stature, breathing voice, and some of the most iconic lines in film history, it is meant to be a great character. it must have taken some time though, as just the characters of darth vader was played by three different people.

physical body: david prowse (+ bob anderson)
the physical body was played by english actor and bodybuilder david prowse. prowse had, at the time, stared as julian in the 1971 a clockwork orange and as frankenstein's monster in three films. It was in a clockwork orange george lucas had noticed him. standing at about six feet, six inches tall, prowse was a perfect fit to play the villain of his future blockbuster.

it was originally intended for prowse to provide the voice of darth vader––he even spoke his dialogue during filming––but the idea was later scratch when lucas deemed his voice unsuitable, and instead wanted a "darker voice". carrie fisher––Princess Leia––commented on prowse's voice in the 2004 documentary empire of dreams, saying that during the casts' time of filming nicknamed him "darth farmer". this was because of prowse's heavy west country accent.

furthermore, in the lightsaber scenes, the ones between darth vader and luke skywalker, prowse was replaced as well. this time by stuntman bob anderson. the reason was that prowse was too clumsy, breaking the poles that stood in the in for the lightsaber multiple times. because of this, prowse felt forgotten during the making of episode vi– return of the jedi, saying that he was only able to persuade director richard marquand so he could act in a scene.

voice: james earl jones
as mentioned before, david prowse was at first used as the voice of darth vader, only to be replaced by another actor to play the part. originally, george lucas intended for american actor orson welles to voice vader but feared that it would be too recognisable. lesser-known actor james earl jones was cast instead.

face: sebastian shaw
during the production of return of the jedi, the crew were trying to find an experienced actor for the role of anakin skywalker, darth vader's young and original self, specifically for the scene of the character's own death. the one to play the role of the face was sebastian shaw, as they thought he could pull off such emotional scene.

shaw's role was for a long time kept a secret to other cast major members, the only ones knowing was minor cast and crew. during his first time on set, he ran into ian mcdiarmid, the actor playing the emperor and personal friend of shaw. mcdiarmid asked what he was going there, for which shaw responded: "i don't know, dear boy, i think it's something to do with science-fiction." it was only by the unmasking scene where the other actors knew why he was there. 

—— publication history.
02.04.2016 (originally published)
21.04.2018 (wattpad published; updated)
21.02.2019 (updated)