Sam Witwer, the voice of Darth Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story, has detailed the experience of bringing the character to life with the help of Ray Park.
Maul’s cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story was certainly a shocking one, leaving many to wonder just how Lucasfilm pulled off such a huge surprise.
It actually took two actors to bring the character to life once again on the big screen, Ray Park (who physically played Maul) and Sam Witwer, who provided the voice. Witwer has played Maul before on animated properties like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels but doing so on the big screen was a first for him.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, the actor described the process: “Ray and I have known each other for a while. In fact, we’ve been bumping into each other for years, not just at Cons but at restaurants and airports, constantly just, ‘Oh, hey, Ray.’ It’s very, very funny. We started talking. Ray had already seen all the animated stuff, but he wanted to know, he’s like, ‘What do you feel are the key points that I should check out again?’ He wanted to just really get on the same page with that stuff. I wanted to get on the same page. We talked, we collaborated.
“I recorded my dialogue, then Ray shot it lip-syncing the dialogue, and then I recorded again to accommodate what Ray did that was, say, different than what I did because, frankly, I think that [director] Ron Howard and them were absolutely right. The way to bring this character to life on the screen is to have both me and Ray have our input and our ability just to have our chance to do what we think should be done.”
It seems that the right balance was found behind the scenes as Maul’s appearance on screen has gone down very well with fans, combining the talents of two actors who are much beloved by the Star Wars faithful.
SEE ALSO: Darth Maul actor Ray Park responds to fat comments aimed at his Solo: A Star Wars Story appearance
SEE ALSO: Solo: A Star Wars Story concept art shows alternative Maul designs
A new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
Solo: A Star Wars Story features Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Tobias Beckett, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as L3-37, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’Ra, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Val, Ian Kenny (Sing Street) as Rebolt, Harley Durst (Wonder Woman) as Moloch, Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Rio Durant, Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) as Dryden Vos and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) as Weazel.
