How would Orson Welles have been as the voice of Darth Vader?

I heard that Orson Welles was once considered for the voice of Darth Vader. I don't know any details about it, but I would love to know more.

IMO, Orson Welles was an unbelievable talent, a tremendous actor, and he had an awesome voice. How would he have been as Vader?

Welles provided the voice of Unicron in TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. Now that voice was incredible. I don't think he could have used it for Vader (it was too deep and powerful). But to think of the power of Welles behind Vader ...

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

" I will choke no wife...before her time. "

Had he done the voice and not Mr. Jones then we wouldn't know any better of course. Vader would still have been a very compelling villain nonetheless.

I think Malachi Throne would have done a great job too.

Let's not forget in the NPR Radio shows how different Vader was when voiced by Brock Peters. I like that Vader, too.

Just as long as he was NOT voiced by John Feidler ( Piglet, Mr. Hengist...from Classic Trek's 'Wolf in the Fold' ) then..uh...

Oh nevermind.

 

I can't imagine anyone else doing the voice


james earl jones is darth vader

 

This is one thing I think Lucas did wrong with the Saga is hiring JEJ, I still belive he should of used Woody Alen's voice.

 

I think Lucas wanted to go for a new talent, a new voice.
One that wouldn't be recognized as any other role.

-Seldon

 

His dying words in ROTJ would've been "Rosebud..........."

 

I think that Welles would have done a good job as Darth Vader's voice. He had a very deep, commanding voice. However, there would have been several problems with Welles.
1. He would have wanted a hefty paycheck upfront. This might have made Fox rethink making the movie.
2. His voice was easily recognizable, so audiences might have been turned off by hearing such a recognizable voice.
3. He would have insisted on playing Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi. Not only would people wonder how Anakin got so obese as a force ghost, but imagine the uproar of replacing an Oscar-winning screen legend for the DVDs rather than the no name Shaw.
4. He died in 1985, so he would not have been able to reprise his role for Revenge of the Sith.

 

Unicron??

 

Good question, although JEJ couldn't have done it better, and for that reason I can not comprehend another voice being Vader's other then JEJ.

 

Also, if Welles had done the voice, viewers might have thought martians were invading...

 

It must have been an issue of salary or availability, but yes- I too remember reading that the role was originally for Welles.

Mr. K

 

The giant planet-size, planet eating transformer.

God that sounds so silly now...

 

I think they could have added enough effects to Welles' voice where he wouldn't be too recognizable. But it would have been hard to completely avoid a resemblence. That being said, no one can watch the OT now and not think of JEJ ... although for some reason it's not as bad as you would think it would be.

But it's true that Welles had a gigantic ego and would have been difficult to work with, wanting to re-write Lucas' dialogue or who knows what. Surely he would have wanted to be in ROTJ. Not having him for ROTS would also have been disappointing.

Nevertheless, I still believe that Welles would have been an amazing Vader. Right up there with JEJ.

 

JEJ is the best choice. Orson Welles would have been to camp for Star Wars. That is why he was chosen for the Transformer Movie.

Plus, I could only imagine the dialogue in ESB and RotJ...

ESB Cloud City: Enter Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca...

Vader: We would be honored by your presence... an there wil be no wine until it's time.

or

RotJ Vaders last scene in the hanger bay:

Vader: Luke, help me take this mask off.

Luke: But you'll die.

Vader: Nothing can stop that now, let me see you with my glasses.

Luke: Glasses?

Vader: Yes my boy. We can't have a fine wine without glasses and I can't drink my wine with my mask on.