The reason why James Earl Jones was uncredited for his role of voicing Darth Vader
It’s not uncommon for actors to request their names be hidden from the credits of a film in which they’ve starred. Kathleen Turner chose not to be credited for her voice-acting role as Jessica Rabbit in Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Gary Oldman, meanwhile, decided to play Mason Verger in Hannibal “anonymously” so that he could experiment with his role.
However, one of the most famous examples is James Earl Jones, who voiced Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Jones was an established actor by the late 1970s, having made a name for himself on Broadway and even earning a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role as boxer Jack Johnson in the 1970s effort The Great White Hope.
Yet, in his voice-acting debut, Jones decided not to attach his name to the project until the final film of the Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi. The reason for Jones’ decision was out of respect for the man beneath the mask – David Prowse. The British actor performed all of Darth Vader’s lines underneath the iconic costume, despite expressing concerns that his voice would be too muffled.
Prowse was told not to worry by director George Lucas, who reassured him that the dialogue would be re-recorded in post-production. Little did he know that his voice was not going to be used. Instead, Lucas hired Jones to be the menacing and breathy sound of the famous villain.
This is because Prowse’s thick Devonshire accent didn’t quite have the same terrifying effect as the one belonging to Jones – the crew went as far as to nickname Prowse the ‘Darth Farmer’.
Lucas expressed some hesitation over casting Jones, as he didn’t want to have the only black actor involved with Star Wars be portrayed as a villain. Yet after searching far and wide by listening to countless tapes of different voices, including that of Orson Welles, no one could compete with Jones’s profound baritone voice.
Recording all of his lines in just two and a half hours, he took home $7,500. Jones claims that he viewed his role as nothing more than “special effects,” stating that Prowse “is Vader”.
According to one of Lucas’ drafts, Darth Vader “speaks in an oddly filtered voice through his complex breathing mask.” Jones achieves this perfectly well. However, sound designer Ben Burtt helped to create the breathing sound by using a scuba tank regulator that he himself would breathe into before editing it into the rhythm of Jones’ speech.
Vader’s voice is easily the most recognisable in Hollywood history. Thus, it is no surprise that by the time Return of the Jedi was released, everyone had already discovered that it belonged to James Earl Jones. Therefore, he decided to have his name credited alongside Prowse. Subsequent re-releases of the first two films also retroactively credited Jones for his mighty vocal performance.
