Back in March, we brought you some details on Darth Vader’s casting in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the upcoming Star Wars Anthology movie from Disney and Lucasfilm, and after confirming the Sith Lord’s involvement yesterday, Entertainment Weekly has been speaking to producer Kathleen Kennedy, director Gareth Edwards and more about the iconic villain’s role in the film.
“I think we can talk about Vader…” said Kennedy, who confirmed that the Dark Lord of the Sith will once again be voiced by James Earl Jones. “He will be in the movie sparingly. But at a key, strategic moment, he’s going to loom large.”
“Within the Rebellion, it’s not commonly spoken about,” adds Edwards. “Within the Empire, there is the culture of knowing of the existence of Darth Vader. There’s definitely an underlying feeling that there is a power – a dark power – available to the Empire and that if you overstep your mark, you will suffer the consequences.”
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The article reveals that Edwards’ first experience with Vader came back in 2014, when they took part in a test shoot on the Starkiller Base set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the purpose of working out how to light Vader’s armor amongst the backdrop of Imperial architecture:
“He’s got more in common with lighting a car than a person, so we wanted to get it exactly right,” Edwards said. “We had the breathing sound just to inspire everyone. I just got massive goosebumps. I was so nervous to turn the corner and see him. You have to pinch yourself. Everyone became children again, so easy. You just go straight back to being a 4-year-old, like, in a heartbeat.”
Andpeaking about Vader’s relationship with Director Orson Krennic (played by Ben Mendelsohn), the main antagonist of Rogue One, Lucasfilm’s Kiri Hart adds: “Vader doesn’t really play by the rules. He’s present in the military structure, but he’s not beholden to it. He’s not accountable to anybody, really, except Palpatine.”
SEE ALSO: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story character details revealed
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, is the first film in the new standalone movies from Lucasfilm. It tells the story of how a group of unlikely heroes unite to undertake a daring and seemingly impossible mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 16th 2016, with a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man) and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler).
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published June 23, 2016. Updated March 2, 2020.
