Cool! Thanks for sharing! I didn't really know anything about the actor. I think I like him. I'll have to look up what else he's in.
Oh yes, another one of those poor actors who were "ruined" by the Prequels, having to "endure" all these terrible hours on set with the "bored" George Lucas....let's face it: One of them started a second career as a big blockbuser action hero (Liam Neeson), another actress moved on to win an Oscar (Natalie Portman) while playing her decoy started the massive career of another actress (Keira Knightley) and even a mere a stuntman (Ray Park) was turned into a real actor playing parts in big movies (X-Men) and tv shows (Heroes). In all seriousness, it's always nice to see the actors having a nice time looking back.
Interesting interview. I find it hilarious to learn after much 'Watto is a racist Jewish/Arabic stereotype' cries from fans that the actor actually went for an Italian accent only because George mentioned a potential mafia 'connection' to the character. Lol.
Interesting, this guy doesn't seem to take the spotlight much. Of course I can't blame him as Watto does get some hate.
Great find! Even though his "real" voice is very different, you can kinda hear Watto when he coughs. Neat little interview and another actor who comes across -- refreshingly -- free of ego. Loved his comments; though he does slightly wing it at the end by saying the prequels are "good in their own way", and were intended for "a different generation", which he says he's putting in a "diplomatic" way. It's nice that he thinks fondly of George, fondly of Watto, and fondly of Jar Jar, and fondly, in general, it seems, of the time he spent making TPM, contributing to a small slice of cinematic history; even though he's clearly more of your classic OT-er. So be it, Toydarian. And yes, it's good to get some confirmation that Secombe went for an "Italianesque" accent, after being told by Lucas that the rough idea was of a "second-hand car salesman", with potential "mafia connections". That doesn't rule out other influences (Watto is clearly influenced by Sheik Ilderim in "Ben-Hur" on some basic plot levels >> http://www.moongadget.com/origins/benhur.html), but it does help to clear up some unfortunate misconceptions (whether people accept those conceptions being cleared up or not, though, is a different matter). Anyway, this is my favourite part of the interview, transcribed near-verbatim (just took out a few "ums" and "arghs"...): It was my first major movie, and I was a bit nervous walking onto the set, but what was nice was that George had his kids on his knees. It was like joining a big family day out. It was very calm, it was very peaceful, he never raised his voice. I thought, "Oh, this is like being in somebody's living room." It was very, very, very easy in the end. He's terribly nice, George. He never gets rattled. He speaks in a very calm, low voice. "Well, Andy, what I'd like you to do is this, and this, and this." And he's also got a wicked sense of humour. It was just fun all-round.
Great find. And this guy really seems like the nicest guy ever. I also like that he supports George and presents him as he really is: A nice guy.
Probably one of very the few. Clearly many Hans wondered in vain where'd Lucas dig up that old fossil so settled for hokey and ancient stereotypes for their answer. I thought it was Russian.
I'm more familiar with Italian accents than some but I am still a bit surprised to be one of few to notice.
I'm pretty close to an Italian family IRL but they've been in Canada so long they just sound like typical North Americans now. What embarrasses me is I've actually been in Italy for a few weeks a while ago, and somehow I still didn't make the Watto=Italian connection. Then again in Italy I've mostly heard people converse in their mother tongue so in my defense Italian accents in Italian don't sound *completely* like Italian accents in English(or so I will say).
