David Prowse, the Bitter Old Man.

Prowse Opens His Mouth Again

Monday, February 7, 2005


Original ... Darth Dave
INTERNET EXCLUSIVEVader saves Star Wars

By JONATHAN WEINBERG

HE may be the man behind the most feared movie villain of all time but Darth Vader actor Dave Prowse has now turned superhero ? to rescue Star Wars supremo George Lucas.

Twenty-eight years after winning a place in science fiction film history for his role as the giant galactic baddie, the 69-year-old is back on the big screen, playing himself in Saving Star Wars.

The movie was shown on Sunday night at the Sci-Fi London Film Festival and tells the story of a band of crazy Star Wars fans who kidnap Lucas, the movie series? legendary filmmaker.

Dave said: ?The fans hated the last two movies and they hear he?s got the script for the new one in a briefcase that?s chained to his wrist.

?They want to persuade him to get back to the essence of the original films.

?I get the job of saving George at the end and they?ve got a great lookalike for him.?

The low-budget flick is a far cry from the multi-million-pound movie trilogy that made Dave a household name.

Saving Star Wars was made on a budget of just £50,000 but has had great festival reviews and is now available on DVD.

But even ?saving George? wasn?t enough to win Dave the role he really wanted ? a return stint as Darth Vader in the sixth and final Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith.

Released on May 19, it stars Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker and will finally reveal how the young Jedi Knight is transformed into Darth Vader ? showing how he is turned by the infamous ?dark side of the Force?.

And even though he?s now a pensioner, Dave admits he was bitterly disappointed not to have been offered the chance to finish what he started in that galaxy far, far away.


New look ... Hayden Christensen as Vader

He said: ?I?ve only seen a teaser trailer for the new film but it looks like it will be terrific.

?I let everyone know I was interested in the Darth Vader role but no one took me up on the offer.

?I?d have loved to have done it but I guess they wanted Hayden.

?But when I did Star Wars I was 6ft 7in and weighed 20 stone and Hayden is about 5ft 9in and 10 stone soaking wet.

?How they are going to carry it off I don?t know. They will probably just use more special effects.?

Dave added: ?It?s a different kettle of fish now and I think that is for the worse.

?The CGI effects are now so good that eventually it will be the death knell for small part actors and actresses. You?ll just have the main stars.?

Now living in Croydon, south-east London, with wife Norma, the Bristol-born actor has fond memories of his time bringing death and destruction to outer space.

But he admits being known as the man in that famous black mask ? which he last wore for Return of the Jedi in 1983 ? does have its advantages.

He said: ?I am regarded as the ultimate screen villian of all time but I can walk around Croydon and have complete anonymity. That?s the joy of playing a masked character.

?Or I can go to a convention and have as much publicity as I want. You can switch it off when you don?t want it and that?s the best situation.

?I?d hate to be someone on the soaps.?


Guiding lightsaber ... Dave squares up to Darth in film

Dave is a regular on the sci-fi convention circuit and is looking forward to meeting up with more than 50 of his former co-stars at a massive exhibition in Indianapolis, US, in April.

He said: ?If I wanted to I could be somewhere in the world every weekend. That?s how busy it is. I?ve literally signed hundreds of thousands of autographs over the years.

?They are absolutely fanatical about Star Wars in Japan and I?ve got appearances lined up in Puerto Rico and Buenos Aires.

?I am knocked out that after 28 years people still queue up to see me. I?ve now put a show together, like an Evening With, and we are now touring the theatres and universities

 

That's very cool.
(Dave just doesn't like the new ones 'cuz he's not in them.....j/k.)

 

Funny that Dave failed to mention his stunt double Bob Anderson who did all duels in ESB and ROTJ was 6'1" the same height as Hayden, Hayden is NOT 5'9" he is 6'1" and wore 4 inch heels in the Vader costume just as Anderson did in ESB and ROTJ.

Actually Dave was first unhappy when JEJ got to do the Vader voice over him, if you read late 70s interviews with Dave he said JEJ sounded like an old man.

 

I tend not to worry about these sorts of things that much. If he wants to mope, let him mope. Life goes on.

 

Dave Prowse needs to get over himself.

Hayden is 6'1", not 5'9", and while he was skinny, Lucas asked him to bulk up for ROTS. Which he did, and quite nicely too, as anyone who's seen pics of Anakin from ROTS (especially the shirtless ones) knows.

And like DINVADER_RETURNS pointed out, Bob Anderson played Vader during the duels. Prowse was more than happy to let people think he was Vader during the duels, until Mark Hamill revealed otherwise.

Prowse on Hayden playing Vader:

?How they are going to carry it off I don?t know. They will probably just use more special effects.?

You should know better, Prowse. They'll pull it off the same way they "pulled off" Bob Anderson playing Vader in the ESB/ROTJ duels. The article writer ought to know better too, but I guess when you're writing something anti-prequel, little things like research fall by the wayside.

The two recent prequels, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, were panned by fans and critics alike.

Another inaccuracy; I guess they figure if they repeat it often enough it will become fact.

As for Prowse being able to provide Vader's voice, with modification, as he's occasionally claimed: no. Not for nothing did the cast and crew call Prowse "Darth Farmer" behind his back.

What really irks me about Prowse is his arrogance in thinking that he is the only actor who made a significant contribution to Vader. He even signs photographs: "David Prowse IS Darth Vader." He doesn't mind ignoring that Bob Anderson played him during the duels, that Sebastian Shaw played him when Luke unmasked him, or that James Earl Jones provided his voice.

Incidentally, Jones is, unlike Prowse, quite humble about his contribution to Vader.

 

Hayden looks like he put on ten pounds. I would hardly call that bulking up. And seeing him in the suit is pretty funny he's like a toothpick. I'm not defending Prowse nor would I want that old man in the suit again. But to entertain the notion that Hayden can fill the role of Vader is hilarious. From the segment on the Revised SE OT DVDs vader looks so tiny. Everyone on the set looks so much bigger then Hayden in the suit. He looks like an anorexic Darth Vader.

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"Rabid Balding Ewok, you make me sick.
If there was an enemies list, you'd be on mine."


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He put on like 50 pounds of muscle. And until we see him on FILM we can't really judge size. The videos release are pretty deceptive because of the nature of how they are shot.

 

Hmm, sounds like this fan film is just a cheap rip-off of LOTS. They'll be hearing from my lawyers.

Strilo, I don't know, Vader looked super circus bad in the teaser trailer. Granted, it was a short spot, but if that's any indictation of things to come, I'm not hopeful.

(Where is Darth_Mittens when you need him?)

 

He put on like 50 pounds of muscle.

I think you're exaggerating...just a little.

 

When was he not bitter?

 

Super circus bad? LOL now THAT is an exaggeration!

Devilanse I am not exaggerating. I could be misremembering but judging from his skinny build in AOTC and the pictures of him shirtless in ROTS still, it was a LOT of muscle. I'd bet at LEAST 35 pounds.

 

MAN, Prowse has got to be even MORE PISSED that Peter Mayhew is back as Chewbacca!

 

Lol, just tracked down the picture as my GF came into to the room. She thought I was looking at gay pRon. Any ways I'm looking at it now and he just looks toned. He's still as skinny as before but with a little definition.

-----signature-----
"Rabid Balding Ewok, you make me sick.
If there was an enemies list, you'd be on mine."


:::*::(^^) :(^^) :::::::
::::::/::::^^:::::\ ::*::
:::::/###-^^-##I :::::
: *:.l##/(*)# (*)\\:::::
:::/##(###.00#)#I ::::
::(___/#*#(XXX)/__) ::
::/000{{{{www}}}}\:: Ewoks Will Eat You!

 

Devilanse I am not exaggerating. I could be misremembering but judging from his skinny build in AOTC and the pictures of him shirtless in ROTS still, it was a LOT of muscle. I'd bet at LEAST 35 pounds.

35 lbs. seems about right to me. He's much more muscular in the torso and arms, and also in the legs.

 

And it *is* quite possible, and in fact, readily achieveable, to put on just that much pure muscle....speaking from some experience here, too, since a good, steady regimen of working out can gain you muscle mass at a good rate - 'course, it's more readily apparent for guys....they can see the results much more easily, I mean, whereas for we women....it's rather more a matter of toning and tightening. However, in any case, you're quite right - there's no question that Hayden could, and *did*, put on at least that much raw muscle....just takes dedication, consistency, but the results are wonderfully obvious....just takes one look at certain pics from ROTS to be more than triumphantly sure about that. The mere sight of Hayden in that suit....just as orgasmic to see as it was for him to be in it.

And as far as David Prowse is concerned....what a colossal jerk - seems like he's been that way for years, from what you're saying....at least everyone else, like JEJ and Sebastian Shaw, et al, are real class acts. Hopefully they more than make up for the fact that clearly David Prowse is an absolute git. Shame, really....says a lot about him as a person....


Dawn.

 

He's still as skinny as before but with a little definition.

With all due respect here, RBE... I love you and all... but trust me. He's NOT as skinny as he was before. He's gained a lot of mass, most of it muscle. There is a lot more there than just a little definition. Take it from an expert.

 

Why the hell are people on a Star Wars Internet message board arguing about the possibilities of working out and gaining muscle?

Last I heard, we were all forty pounds overweight and the only exercise we got was walking to the fridge to get a Mountain Dew.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I am arguing it because I grow tired of people harping on Hayden for the smallest things. Especially when documented facts directly contradict their claims.

 

What Qwi-Dawn and Strilo said.

I too am sick of people harping on Hayden, and I'm also sick of Prowse's bitter, ignorant and/or disingenuous snipes at Lucas and SW.

Like I said earlier, he can imagine perfectly well how they'd "pull off" Hayden being in the Vader suit, being as they did the same sort of thing with Bob Anderson during the saber duels in ESB and ROTJ. Also, I'm sick of Prowse acting like he and only he was entitled to to wear the Vader suit in ROTS, while simultaneously saying Lucas is not honorable, etc., to whoever will listen.

And Prowse wonders why Lucas didn't leap at his offer to play Vader in ROTS (leaving aside that Prowse is in somewhat less-than-stellar physical condition these days). If I were Lucas, I wouldn't want anything to do with that jerk.

Funny how Prowse and other embittered former SW actors/crewmembers keep getting publicity with their snipes when positive remarks of past and present SW actors/crewmembers get ignorned.

For instance, we heard plenty about how the late Alec Guinness hated working on SW (he called ESB "dull, rubbishy stuff") and being remembered as Obi Wan. However, we seldom, if ever, heard about how Peter "Tarkin" Cushing adored working with "dear George Lucas" on SW, and liked being recognized as Tarkin. More recently, Ewan McGregor's cranky remarks about TPM (which he later attributed to drinking heavily) were trumpeted to the sky, but not his positive remarks about the PT. Nor Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid saying they like working with bluescreen because it reminds them of acting in the theater. Nor Hayden praising Lucas as a director and dismissing the claims that he doesn't care about actors or that all he does is say "faster" and "more intense."

 

Last I heard, we were all forty pounds overweight and the only exercise we got was walking to the fridge to get a Mountain Dew.

Adam, speak for yourself, I'm not overweight and
I get plenty of exercise and it's not from walking to the fridge.

 

Word to that, Shelly and Strilo....*word*. That's a fine smackdown you've laid, and you know how very, very much I wholeheartedly and vociferously agree....


Dawn.

 

Like I said earlier, he can imagine perfectly well how they'd "pull off" Hayden being in the Vader suit

They're gonna 'pull off' Hayden while he's in the Vader suit I wonder if they'll have that on Hyperspace .

Funny how Prowse and other embittered former SW actors/crewmembers keep getting publicity with their snipes when positive remarks of past and present SW actors/crewmembers get ignorned.

Yeah, you seem to be ignoring Prowse's positive remarks too :
?I?ve only seen a teaser trailer for the new film but it looks like it will be terrific. "

I like reading Prowse's remarks, he's not in the new movies so he's more free to speak honestly .

More recently, Ewan McGregor's cranky remarks about TPM (which he later attributed to drinking heavily)

I heard it the other way round -- he attributed his heavy drinking to having watched TPM

g

 

Word to that, Shelly and Strilo....*word*. That's a fine smackdown you've laid, and you know how very, very much I wholeheartedly and vociferously agree....

Thanks, Dawn.

They're gonna 'pull off' Hayden while he's in the Vader suit I wonder if they'll have that on Hyperspace .



Yeah, you seem to be ignoring Prowse's positive remarks too :
?I?ve only seen a teaser trailer for the new film but it looks like it will be terrific. "

After which he proceeds to snipe and whine.

I like reading Prowse's remarks, he's not in the new movies so he's more free to speak honestly .

So by that logic, he is not free to speak honestly about the OT, because he was in those movies. I guess we have to dismiss the positive remarks he made about ESB and the negative remarks he made about ROTJ.

I heard it the other way round -- he attributed his heavy drinking to having watched TPM

Ha ha.

He said he began drinking heavily to deal with the sudden worldwide fame that came with being in TPM, and that in turn led to his cranky remarks about it.

 

If we can cast Christopher Lee in an action role, why can't we cast Prowse for the standing, walking, and gesturing? Unless I'm mistaken, he's not going to have to do much more than that, and we're certainly not going to hear his voice, as JEJ has already recorded dialogue.

Why shouldn't GL throw him a bone and let him put the costume on one last time? Why does it *have* to be Hayden when it didn't *have* to be Shaw in the OT?

EDIT: Forgot an "n't".

 

Why shouldn't GL throw him a bone and let him put the costume on one last time?

He got his last time in RotJ

Hayden put more work into defining this character than any other actor - why should GL not throw "him" a bone and let him put the suit on one time in his entire life.

- O_F