Star Wars is one of the biggest pop culture franchises in history. With 11 feature films
over 40 years, not to mention countless spinoffs, live-action TV shows, animated shows, video games,
toys, and enough merchandise to practically fill an entire galaxy far, far away,
Business Insider estimates the franchise had brought in more than $20 billion by 2012.
And that was before both the Mandalorian and the new trilogy!
So it's very safe to say that some people have gotten extremely rich off of Star Wars. And while
series creator George Lucas raked in the lion's share of the profits, a lot of that money trickled
down to the members of the Star Wars cast. For example, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Mark
Hamill is worth an estimated $18 million, while stars like Adam Driver — worth $10 million — and
Ewan McGregor — worth $25 million — have done quite well for themselves too. And while those
names also have a lot of other big projects under their belt, even lesser known players in the Star
Wars universe seem to have reaped the reward, with Ray Park, the guy who played Darth Maul, estimated
to be worth $5 million, and C3PO's Anthony Daniels estimated to have a fortune of roughly $8 million.
But not everyone has seen a big windfall from the films. In fact,
two stars in particular really got the shaft: Jake Lloyd and the late David Prowse.
Prowse, who passed away on November 28, 2020,
never got the widespread recognition he deserved, but he was responsible for playing
one of the most famous characters in cinematic history: Darth Vader.
We know what you're thinking: wait, didn't James Earl Jones play Darth Vader?
It turns out that while Jones did the voice work, it was actually English-born
bodybuilder Prowse who was inside the armor in the original three films,
doing all of the physical acting. Jones simply added the dialogue
after the fact from a sound studio, because they thought he sounded cooler than Prowse.
According to The Telegraph, Prowse started bodybuilding at age 15,
worked as a physical fitness consultant to Harrod's department store for 15 years, and
acted in some commercials before eventually being cast in the role of Darth Vader. And that should
have given him plenty of financial security, but Prowse said it wasn't until he was in his 60's
that he finally stopped worrying about cash, and that was mostly because of convention appearance
fees and the sales of signed merchandise rather than any money from the movies themselves.
Why? Well, a lot of it has to do with shady Hollywood accounting practices.
According to The Atlantic, Prowse signed a Net Profit Payout agreement for Return of the Jedi,
which isn't too uncommon for lesser known actors. The idea is that once the film made
back it's initial cost, Prowse would then get a bunch of money as his share of the profits.
One major problem, though: Despite grossing $475 million on just a $32 million budget,
the studio behind Return of the Jedi claims that it never turned a profit
due to expensive distribution fees. So as a result, Prowse never got paid.
It's enough to make you lose faith in Hollywood executives!
And then there's the case of Jake Lloyd, the young boy who played future Darth
Vader Anakin Skywalker in 1999's Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.
Celebrity Net Worth estimates Lloyd's personal fortune at just $25,000. But tragically,
that has less to do with how much he got paid and more to do with the heavy
price he himself paid for the unwanted fame and attention that came with playing young Anakin.
Lloyd, who was just 8 when he was cast in the role and 10 when the film came out,
suffered a tremendous amount of public bullying. Director Ron
Howard defended him from critics who called him "Mannequin Skywalker," but in the end,
Lloyd quit acting altogether and even destroyed all of his Star Wars memorabilia.
Unfortunately, his troubles continued, and in 2015, Lloyd was arrested at the end of
a high-speed car chase. He was transferred to a psychiatric facility where he was diagnosed with
schizophrenia, a condition that his mother states had gone undiagnosed and un-medicated for years.
According to the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services,
even then Lloyd was still the subject of widespread mockery from angry Star Wars fans.
Lloyd's case is one not only of lost financial opportunity, but the crippling power of cruelty,
especially towards the young. While Star Wars has brought light to the lives of countless fans,
there is always a downside, and dark side, to fame — and to fandom.
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