James Earl Jones retires as the voice of Darth Vader, but approves that it is still used digitally

James Earl Jones has been the original voice of Darth Vader for 45 years. The legendary American actor, who turned 91 in early 2022, played the iconic villain from “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope,” though he didn’t initially appear in his credits. Now, Jones has decided that he is ready to lay down the (figurative) cloak of the most famous Sith Lord..

Jones, who is also the English voice of Mufasa in The Lion King, has confirmed that he will officially retire from the character, but that doesn’t mean we won’t hear his voice in the future of Star Wars. The actor recently communicated to Lucasfilm his decision to come up with a transition plan, signing an agreement that gave the studio permission to digitally reproduce his voice in possible future appearances of Darth Vader in the saga. A process that began with ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.

According to Vanity Fair, the actor made the final decision after Skywalker Sound showed him the work Ukrainian start-up Respeecher had done in the miniseries with Ewan McGregor. Sound engineer Matthew Wood defines Jones’ participation in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as that of a “godfather” and reveals that Jones’s family was so pleased with the outcome that it was instrumental in the actor’s decision. From now on, the company will continue to work with Jones and his team to ensure that the character stays true to his unforgettable original English performance.

An important challenge

Although digital advances make possible new ways to find the precious magic of cinema, the truth is that the process of simulating Darth Vader’s voice is far from simple. As Wood explains, also at Vanity Fair, “For a character like Darth Vader, who can have about 50 lines in a series, it should handle more or less 10,000 files”.

Obviously it won’t be for the material, since Jones has voiced the character since 1977, returning to it for his film sequels, but also for series, TV specials, video games and other titles, most recently in “Rogue One: A Star. “. Wars Story ‘,’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ‘or’ Star Wars Rebels’.