The Casting Choices That Almost Changed Movies As We Know Them

Behind the mask, the wrong kind of fame could have broken the illusion. George Lucas considered Orson Welles for the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977), and on paper, the idea had obvious power. Welles possessed one of the great voices in cinema and radio, full of authority, shadow, and history. That was also the problem. Audiences might have heard Welles before they heard Vader. James Earl Jones gave the character something monumental without pulling attention away from the black armor, the breathing, and David Prowse’s physical presence.