CT Should Prowse have played the Unmasked Vader?

My old thread was closed. Nothing against Shaw but I really think Prowse should be given that chance to show his face because

He was the real Vader actor, he was in the right age and he looked more like Mark/Hayden.

 

Prowse was not a dramatic actor, he was a body builder. And even if his face had been shown, his voice would have to be dubbed because of his English farmer accent.

 

It was just like, less than 5 mins scene. I'm sure he would have been fine, he played quite a few minor roles in a few movies before. Yeah the voice should be dubbed.

 

no offense to Mr Prowse but no, his accent is far too different to be able to pull it off unfortunately,

I do think Prowse gets a bad wrap though, undeservedly.

 

I think he has the look. I like that picture.
If he could pull off a fitting voice I'd say yes, but I am not really familiar with him.
Some actors can do a range of different voices well.

 

no.

 

Maybe he just didn't want to do it. If it's dubbed, there's not really a valid reason other than that for him not being the actor.. or maybe Lucas just didn't think he'd be good enough. I'm not sure.

 

If they use a good voice actor to dub him, would you like it?

 

Damn, he actually does look a lot like Mark/Hayden.

He probably could have done it.

 

Prowse did his job very well, but I think Shaw's performance in that scene was excellent and I find it difficult to imagine it being bettered.

 

Didn't Prowse have the voice of a Mod edit? Isn't that why JEJ's voice was used for Vader?

 

not pc.

 

I think that Prowse could have pulled it off, so it's hard to say.

 

If I remember right, Lucas was pissed at Prowse for leaking spoilers. That's why he was replaced by Shaw.

 

Prowse was only hired for his physique and not his acting. Lucas had intended to hire someone else to voice Vader, but didn't tell him. By the time of ROTJ, Lucas wasn't happy with Prowse and had Bob Anderson do most of Vader's scenes. Once Lucas and Marquand decided that Vader should be seen unmasked, they opted to go with an actor who could act and that is why Shaw was hired.

 

He could have yes, with his voice dubbed.

But back in the OT days, Vader/Anakin Skywalker was supposed to be much older than he is now, around 60 (apparently, Lucas never even thought about the huge age difference between Vader and his son, who was supposed to be around 20...). That's also why S. Shaw was cast, apart from his acting ablilities.

Anyway, Shaw's performance (look + voice) is one of the finest, if only very brief.

 

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil"
"When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master."

These seemed to hint at Anakin/Vader being fairly young when he turned.

 

Sure it did.

But as we know, it is highly probable, if not a 100% certain, that before ESB, Vader and Anakin Skywalker were seperate characters....
When the 2 were merged, Lucas probably chose to keep him closer to Anakin Skywalker, who was supposed to be around the same age as Obi-Wan (maybe slightly younger) in ANH.

Of course, all this remains a little elusive, as Lucas or Lucasfilm (compendium etc...) never officially stated the age of Vader/Anakin or Obi-wan Kenobi at the end of the OT, as far as I know.

Anyway, the fact that a 77 years old actor was hired to play Vader/Anakin clearly indicates to me that the character was envisioned much older than his is now at the time.

 

Where did it say Anakin was in the similar age with Obi Wan? Based on the twins' age and Anakin being Obi Wan's padawan, his age should be around 40-50.

 

Men can father children well into their later years. Be it in their 40's or 50's. The idea circa 1978, was that Obi-wan and Anakin had trained together and that Vader was Obi-wan's apprentice, who was probably in his twenties when he became evil. I believe it is in Leigh Brackett's draft that describes Anakin as being almost as old as Obi-wan.

 

That said, fairly early on, Anakin was portrayed as Obi-Wan's apprentice, even when Vader was a separate person, in Marvel Star Wars's The Long Hunt/A Duel of Eagles:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Annual_1:_The_Long_Hunt

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Seeds_of_SkyeWalkers.jpg

 

in ANH and until ESB's later drafts, although Lucas denies it from the PT days, it is very likely Luke's father was not Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice, and that there are no twins yet...
He is rather a full Jedi Knight roughly equal to him. That's why it is strongly implied, if not stated, that Anakin is around the same age as Ben Kenobi, and not nearly 20 years younger as it is now.

Of course, based on Luke's age and later on the twins age, it seems pretty inconsistent, because it means Anakin was somewhere between 40-50 when the twins were born...A little on the old side, although possible.

Anakin's age was probably lowered from ESB, as he is now supposed to have been Obi-Wan's apprentice. But not that much. Let's not forget that Obi-Wan Kenobi was also supposed to be older at the time than he is now in the OT. At least in his 70's.

If not, then why would have Anakin Skywalker (although hardened and sad from the inside) be portrayed in ROTJ by a 77 years old actor ?

 

Sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes above...Didn't have time to correct.

 

I well remember this one, as I read it at the time and was struck by this short passage. It was released some time after over here in France, don't know exactly when...
But it was apparently published after ESB's shooting and final scripting so...

Anyway, even if Anakin Skywalker was envisioned from the beginning as Obi-Wan's apprentice, it doesn't necessarily mean he was far younger than him.

In the end, I do agree that this issue about Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's ages circa 1977-1983 is a real mess and fairly subjective. Nothing can be sure a 100 %.
The only obvious thing here is that Shaw really looks like he is much older than 43 in ROTJ....

 

Drafts means nothing, the consistency should apply to the movie itself, which stated Vader was a young padawan. Sir Alec was 63 at that time.

The reason I wanted Prowse, other than he was Vader in suit, his age and resemblance to Mark/Hayden, is that he looked more like a menacing and powerful man than Shaw, no offense to Shaw, he was handsome in his era and still looked good in his age.