James Earl Jones On Playing Darth Vader 

I would buy a ticket to hear James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman talk about the weather.

I don't think anyone could pull off Darth Vader's voice better than James Earl.

For me, Vader was the result of the combined talents of both James Earl Jones and Dave Prowse. JEJ's voice is iconic, and you can't imagine it being any other way now, but also DP was brilliant in the suit. I remember reading an interview with him once, where he explained he had such little direction from Lucas as to how to move/point/stand etc, that he decided to just use some of the exaggerated mannerisms he had learnt during his bodybuilding days, such as the aggressive pointing and the way he stood with his thumbs tucked in to his belt. Between the two of them, they made a great character even more memorable.

Having James Earl Jones play the voice of Darth Vader was a stroke of GENIUS!

You can tell, too. His voice in Empire and Jedi is much more even and tempered, giving it a hypnotic effect (when he tries to convince Luke for example), as opposed to the 'military badass' voice of A New Hope.

Thanks James Earl, you nailed the voice of Darth Vader. Nobody would ever come close.

James Earl Jones is a national treasure

He sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger without his accent.

Happy 87th birthday, Mr. James Earl Jones! The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant...next to the power of your voice!

In a way, Star Wars and James Earl Jones was the very first time in film and television where an actor actually got formal recognition and praise for solely _voicing_ a character. At the time, voice actors were seen more as tools than proper actors and almost never got proper credit. Nowadays voice actors are more recognized and respected and some actors like Jennifer Hale, Steve Blum or Tara Strong have actually made commercially and critically successful careers out of primarily voice acting, but Jones was the first to really break that "glass ceiling" with Darth Vader. Indeed it's pretty telling that when most people think of Vader, the first actor that springs to most people's mind is not Prowse or Shaw, the men who were actually in the suit, but Jones, the voice.

He's such a humble man.

James Earl Jones was one of the best things ever happened in Star Wars when he voiced Darth Vader and made the iconic voice we know today :)

I had the fortune to speak with this man in person once, it was very brief and I cannot quite recall what it was about. But I swear, his voice vibrated in my gut

The fact that we get to hear him again is so wonderful.

*Darth Vader was the culmination of Three talents to perform and Countless Talents to inform and reform.* David Prowse: MoCap is underrated as hell and despite a lot of anger over not being allowed to voice he did a fantastic job in spite of himself and his circumstances JEJ: Voice Over was phenomenal for sure and thankfully he had several people to give him examples and reasonings as to why Vader should sound slow, calculating, imposing, and powerful. Sebastian Shaw: Finally gave Vader a side rarely seen in which you felt pity but amazement at a fallen man coming back from the depths of evil and madness trying to finally do some good before dying. Also underrated. Behind these 3 AMAZING artists was an Entire Team that helped them achieve the most iconic vader look/sound/feel. The SFX team helped the voice sound even more machine and the added breathing sound effect that played EVEN WHILE Vader spoke at the same time further made him seem more like a machine since the act of breathing and speaking were (intentionally or unintentionally) made to be completely separate endeavors.

I just love how JEJ was Luke’s dad AND Simba’s dad!! What a career!

Probably the most memorable voice in cinema history.

One of the greatest voices in the world!

His voice is arguably the single element that made this saga from great to iconic

James Earl Jones is a phenomenal actor with great depth in his performances. But aside from his acting, his voice has the most Iconic sound of the past 50 years in my opinion. It’s commanding but gentle. Nobody does it like James Earl Jones. Classic. Next level.

If I close my eyes...I swear I'm listening to Vader with the mask on.

Always been a huge fan of James Earl Jones. Seems like a very humble and down to earth man with a great spirit

"We don't know what we did right" - Yeah that sounds like something Lucas would say.

The interview cut off a very cute thing he said. He told his son that he was the voice of Vader and his son looks up at him and said "Dad, how could you!!!?" 😂

That explains from the behind-the-scenes standpoint why Darth Vader is always so calm and unemotional in the original trilogy, seeing him yelling plenty of times in the new Obi Wan Kenobi series is quite surprising and new

No-one could have done it better...his voice is iconic!

"You gotta keep his voice on a very narrow band of inflection... 'cause he ain't human, really." - nice!

Voice God! His voice can build new universes.

To me, James Earl Jones just said. "I'll do the voice however you want, as long as you pay me."

yea James Earl Jones u r awesome!!!!!

I would pay to hear him say " You've burnt my Pop Tarts for the last time."

Happy B-day James Earl Jones. UR awesome legend. I love Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith, Rouge One: A Star Wars Story, Episode 4 A New Hope, Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back, Episode 6 Return of the Jedi, Episode 9 The Rise of Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Scary Movie 4, Click, Robots, The Lion King and The Sandlot. Disney movies rock... kids love action. I wanna see some action out there. Star Wars is my first favorite movie. All of them. I seen all Star Wars movies. I'll never stop watching or playing Star Wars. It mean family. Your a good wise man. May the Peace be with u Darth Vader. From Harlingen Texas. January 17, 1931 January 17, 2023 through January 17, 3023

omg thanks so much! :D i have it on my instant queue on Netflix so i can watch it right now. thanx again!

Happy birthday to the Legendary James Earl Jones!

his voice is so warm and scary at the same time.

Bless this man!

Such a great snippet!

When he said :"Scary as hell!" , I actually got scared myself!

Great actor and voice actor

Wow! Kershner told that first story on EMPIRE OF DREAMS! Awesome! :-)

Love James Earl Jones! The Darth Vader OG!

I love this man.

Love James Earl Jones I hang my autographed picture of him high, But I have to admit David Prowse was needed, he was awesome.. his walk of authority, his bulk built.. these two actors made Vader!!

I could listen to his voice for hours

In 1977 when Star Wars came out, I was almost 10 years old. My most favorite character is Darth Vader. He's so evil, wicked, a former Jedi, and everyone favorite villain, when he died in 1983 in Return of the Jedi, people actually mourn. James Earl Jones will always be the voice of Darth Vader on Star Wars. That's only part of the actor James Earl Jones, he played other movies and cartoon voices as well?

I've always had strong hopes of possibly meeting him one day, he seems very relateable and humble.

I could listen to James earl Jones,/ darth vader all day best voice ever

his dialogue on R1 was superb : "My apologies!" cracked me up

he was great in conan..!!!!

What a great voice!

Check out the audio Bible (King James Version) with James Earl Jones reading the entire New Testament. Nobody better for that than Jimmy Vader.

Jones has the most fascinating and recognizable voices. Great actor, too. I especially like him in Coming to America.

i'm 21 and i was born in 1991 so the first movie i ever saw with good old james earl was lion king and then a couple years later i saw episode 5 when they had a star wars episode 4-6 marathon on tv

Please someone get him to play King Lear, and film it. That voice reciting Shakespeare. Eargasm!

Thank you James for this masterpiece

Did anyone come from the Darth vader's real voice video on their recommended?

i could listen to him speaking for days

my dad was as captain on a flight that James Earl Jones was taking, his copilot wanted to get James to say, "Luke I am your father!" but my dad was like he prob just wants to be left alone.

awesomeness

AMAZING tribute their

OMG I LOVED lion king when I was a kid and now Im star wars geek, what a Quencidence

We LOVE James Earl Jones!

The last bit makes so much sense. I always noticed how much more emotional Vader was in episode iv compared to v and vi. This explains it

A great actor...and nice guy.

my favorite voice in Hollywood, James Earl Jones!!!

He has such an amazing voice. It’s truly gorgeous.

RIP to a LEGEND

Amazing voice.

Why am I just finding this video now?

One of his best things that James did, I'll remember him as the voice of Darth Vader

Legend.

James Earl ' s voice is so soothing and wise . . .

"You may take Captain Solo to Jabba the Hutt after i have Skywalker". My fav James Earl Jones line from ESB voicing Darth Vader.

Beautiful man!

What a voice

I would LOVE to see and hear James Earl Jones and Ted Williams having a casual conversation!

He'll always be king of Zamunda and Mufasa

1:07: THAT right there is one of the reasons why people have a problem with Hayden Christensen’s line delivery. Lucas wanted to keep Darth Vader’s inflection on that narrow band to promote the idea that Vader’s murderousness and dependence on his suit to keep him alive had all but drained him of his humanity, hence Kenobi’s line in “Return.” Makes sense, given that Vader has been Vader for longer than he was Anakin Skywalker. However, for some reason, during the prequels, Lucas seems to have insisted that Christensen’s inflection match Jones’s, despite the fact that Anakin is still very much human, and that Christensen doesn’t have as commanding a voice as Jones. Hence the stilted, “wooden” way Christensen delivers his lines. This is why I have so much sympathy for Christensen and so much respect for Jones; it can’t be overstated how Jones’s delivery and voice was able to make Lucas’s shoddy, B-movie villain dialogue so memorable and menacing.

James Earl Jones is and will always be a legend! You are a Lord!!

Thx.

wow its so cool to see him talk. i can hear vader and mufasa perfectly. when he says we dont know what we did right at 0:45 he sounds alot like mufasa especially when he says "right"

The man is a LEGEND!!!

legend !

Damn, he has a POWERFUL voice. This great man is 89, now. Hope he keeps going for longer.

James Earl Jones is AWESOME!

Jones & irons have the best voices ever. Disney was brilliant to cast them as brothers doing mufasa & scar. That is still the greatest animated film of all time.

I love the way he said "subtle". :3

thank you James earl jones, thank you

thats a true hero!

"...So, James, we just want you to do the voice. " -Family Guy

James Earl Jones, Frank Welker & Peter Cullen, the best in voice over acting!

Imaging vader speaking while his actor talking here makes such a pleasant, humble vader. I have a bad feeling about this

David Prowse may have lent his body to incorporate ME, but my SOUL is in the voice of James Earl Jones.

I've met Dave Prowse, really nice guy

@MJCrest thanks a lot

James Earl Jones Shows & Movie 1. Darth Vader - Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi, Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith, Rouge One: A Star Wars Story, Episode 4 A New Hope, Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back, Episode 6 Return of the Jedi, Episode 9 The Rise of Skywalker 1977 - 1980 - 1983 - 2005 - 2019 - 2022 2. James Earl Jones - Two and a half Man 2008 3. Narrator, Maggie Simpson, Moving Man, Serak the Preparer - The Simpsons 1990 - 1998 Movies 4. Mufasa - The Lion King 1, 2 Simba's Pride 1994 - 1998 - 2019 5. Narrator of Michael's Past - Click 2006 6. Narrator - Scary Movie 4 2006 7. Darth Vader - The Benchwarmers 2006 8. Voice Box at Hardware Store - Robots 2005 9. Mr. Mertle - The Sandlot 1993

while scrolling down to read comments, I picture Vader in my head

This man's voice is the sound of my childhood.

RU-vid waited 11, almost 12 years to recommend this to me. But better late than never.

I hadn't known of James Earl Jones until I was 11 when The Lion King came out.. but had scene all 3 original Star Wars movies long before.. was I ever shocked a few years later when I learned Jones voiced Vader.. initially I did not believe it