Why did the most famous "Star Wars" droids dislike each other? What got Darth Vader banned
from franchise events? We answer these questions and more as we look back at the biggest feuds
behind the scenes of "Star Wars."
Darth Vader is one of the most imposing figures in sci-fi, and a lot of that had to do with
his height, costume, and mask. In "Star Wars," the man behind the mask was David Prowse,
who stood at 6 feet and 7 inches. Prowse also provided the dialogue for Darth Vader on set,
but George Lucas hired James Earl Jones to dub over everything he said.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
Prowse wasn't happy about that, but he remained a part of the franchise. In 1978, the actor
made a public appearance and revealed a key detail about the sequel, which was captured
by The San Francisco Examiner. According to the paper, Prowse teased an epic lightsaber
battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, and then teased that Luke would find out that
Vader is his father, which would of course lead to another epic showdown in the next
film. It was, it turned out, a major spoiler for "The Empire Strikes Back." The funny thing
was, of course, that "The Empire Strikes Back" hadn't even been written yet. According to
The Sun, Prowse later called his spoiler, quote, "a lucky guess."
Though Prowse remained in the Darth Vader suit for 1983's "Return of the Jedi," Lucas
cast actor Sebastian Shaw to play the role of the unmasked Vader, passing Prowse over
in the process. In 2010, Prowse appeared in "The People vs. George Lucas," a decidedly
anti-Lucas documentary. That same year, Prowse was banned from attending any "Star Wars"
events. David Prowse and George Lucas' relationship was no more.
By the time Sir Alec Guinness starred as Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars," he was nearing the
end of a long and celebrated career in film and onstage. Long before George Lucas dreamed
up his story, Guinness was playing now-iconic roles in films like "The Bridge on the River
Kwai and "Lawrence of Arabia."
The veteran performer was one of many talented English actors who appeared in the first "Star
Wars" film, but unlike his peers, Sir Alec Guinness didn't love working on the movie,
and actually came to loathe the character he played. He wrote his friend Anne Kaufman
a letter before accepting the role of Obi-wan Kenobi and called the story, quote, "fairy
tale rubbish," though he was at least happy to have a big role in it.
Not only did Guinness dislike the movie — he also returned any "Star Wars" fan mail unopened
and didn't want to be approached regarding his role as Kenobi. The actor even once begged
George Lucas to kill off the character, Force Ghost and all.
One of the most fascinating behind-the-scenes feuds in the "Star Wars" franchise was between
George Lucas and pretty much every professional guild in the film industry. It all started
with the first movie's opening crawl, which pushed the director, cast, and crew credits
to the end of the film. That was technically allowed if the director signed a waiver, so
the Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America let it happen. When it came
time for "The Empire Strikes Back," though, the guilds didn't approve.
Their disagreement was due to the inclusion of the words "A Lucasfilm Limited Production"
with no mention of Irvin Kershner, the film's director, before the opening crawl. That exclusion
violated the guilds' rules, and according to The New York Times, George Lucas was fined
by the Directors Guild for his offense. Lucas paid the bill, but he was so frustrated over
what happened, he pulled out of the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Motion
Picture Association entirely.
This is a feud that's never been resolved, as Lucas never returned to any of the professional
guilds in his industry. Despite this, he continued to make movies, often financing them himself
through his massive "Star Wars" profits. Interestingly, the feud is the reason Lucas hired Richard
Marquand to direct "Return of the Jedi," since he had to find a director who didn't belong
to the guild who was willing to sign on.
By the time of "Return of the Jedi," director Richard Marquand was at the helm. For the
most part, the cast and crew got along with the director, but Carrie Fisher despised working
with Marquand, which made the third film in the original trilogy a nightmare for her.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Fisher described how she felt about Marquand, saying,
"I hated him. He fell all over Harrison, but he would yell at me constantly."
According to Fisher, at one point Marquand yelled at her to the point that she, quote,
"burst into tears," leaving the makeup team scrambling to redo her makeup for the next
scene.
In Hollywood, there's a poorly kept secret that George Lucas ghost directed several scenes
in "Return of the Jedi." Whether this had something to do with the cast issues or Lucas'
controlling nature has long been debated. Still, for whatever reason, he got involved.
When George Lucas finally came back to release his long-awaited "Star Wars" prequel trilogy,
he hired a plethora of talented actors. One of the most celebrated was Terence Stamp,
who was cast as Chancellor Valorum in "The Phantom Menace." Stamp was meant to reprise
his role in the sequel, but chose not to return. The reason for his absence was simple: he
really disliked working with George Lucas.
To illustrate his point, Stamp told Empire a story in which he came to the film's set
hoping to meet its young star, Natalie Portman, because he was a fan of her work in the film
"The Professional." When he got to set and asked where Portman was, Lucas pointed to
a piece of paper on a wall, indicating that Stamp was meant to act across from a blue
screen, not an actor. Being asked to perform his scenes without other real actors in the
room made Stamp's time on the film, quote, "just boring." So, he opted out of any sequels.
Harrison Ford and George Lucas don't have a massive history of feuding — after all,
Lucas made Ford into a massive movie star. But that doesn't mean the two didn't clash
on set, especially where Han Solo was concerned. Ford famously brushed off the character, referring
to him as, quote, "Ham Yoyo," and he's gone on record plenty of times saying he wanted
Solo to be killed off. He finally got that wish granted in "The Force Awakens," but long
before that happened, he and Lucas argued about Solo. A lot.
George Lucas' ability to write compelling dialogue has been called into question over
the years, which Ford has since joked about in numerous interviews. He eventually admitted
he was wrong, but they still butted heads.
"I think George likes people. I think George is a warm-hearted person, but ehhh, he's a
little impatient with the process of acting."
Harrison Ford has described Han Solo as a character he had no interest in, but his concern
over dialogue may prove otherwise. On the set of "The Empire Strikes Back," he and director
Irvin Kershner debated over his iconic line in response to Princess Leia's "I love you."
Han says, "I know," which wasn't in the script. Ford clearly cared what Solo said at that
moment, and he convinced the director to let him keep the change for the final cut of the
movie.
Arguably the most significant role in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy was the central
protagonist-turned-antagonist, Anakin Skywalker. For "The Phantom Menace," the part was given
to Jake Lloyd, a relatively unknown child actor with a few credits under his belt. Lloyd's
participation in the franchise was something that could have created a long and profitable
career. Sadly, it did the opposite, leading the young star to quit acting altogether shortly
after the movie's release.
Of all the actors who had trouble following their appearance in a "Star Wars" project,
none could be worse-off than Jake Lloyd. He came to hate his time working for George Lucas,
saying that it ruined his life. According to Lloyd, he was constantly teased for his
portrayal of Anakin, and according to The Daily Mail, described school after the film
as a horrible experience. The young actor was doing up to 60 interviews a day and did
not enjoy the limelight. As a result, he loathed the franchise, destroyed all of his memorabilia,
and stopped making convention appearances.
In many ways, Hayden Christensen's acting career was both made and unmade by his appearance
in the "Star Wars" prequels. The actor gained a lot of fame with the role, but largely retired
from the profession because he felt he hadn't earned the fame. Regardless, he was a big
part of the second and third prequel films and signed on to return to the franchise in
the Disney+ series centered on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano.
While filming "Attack of the Clones," Christensen was a handful for George Lucas. When the actor
was filming any scene with a lightsaber, he made the unique sounds the weapon would make
in the film. It's something everyone with a flashlight, paper tube, or stick has done
at least one time in their lives, and Christensen was no different. He wasn't even aware he
was making the sounds, which must have been second nature to the young fan of the franchise.
At a Star Wars Celebration event years later, Christensen described how Lucas kept having
to stop and tell him to stop making the sounds. Not really a full-blown feud, but still rough
for a director just trying to get a shot.
In 2012, George Lucas sold all of his "Star Wars" properties to Disney for $4.1 billion.
Before long, the House of Mouse launched the production of a sequel to "Return of the Jedi."
When Lucas divested his interests in the franchise, he lost creative control, but that didn't
mean he wasn't of use to Disney. He was hired on for "The Force Awakens" to work as a creative
consultant, but it wasn't exactly a happy collaboration.
Lucas ultimately walked away from the film, and later explained what happened in a 2015
interview on "Charlie Rose." According to Lucas, all of his story ideas for the sixth
film were dismissed as the studio said they wanted to make something, quote, "for the
fans."
"They decided they didn't want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do
their own thing, so I decided, 'fine…'"
Lucas later compared leaving the franchise he created to a breakup, and so far that's
been true. Though he has visited some "Star Wars" sets, he hasn't worked on a project
in the franchise since.
One of the biggest feuds in the franchise was the one that existed between Anthony Daniels
and Kenny Baker, who played C-3PO and R2-D2. The two actors were in droid costumes next
to each other for six movies, and they never got along.
In 2005, Kenny Baker told Hollywood.com that Anthony Daniels didn't like to, quote, "mix
at all" with the rest of the cast, and recalled more than one occasion when Daniels was rude
to him. Baker was more outspoken about the feud than Daniels, but Daniels would say something
about their relationship every so often.
In 2015, Daniels told The Sun that Baker wasn't really as much of a part of "Star Wars" as
he was, saying:
"He's not actually on set. I haven't seen him for years. His name is on the credits
as a sort of...I don't know, a good luck charm, a courtesy. He's a talisman."
Despite their harsh words for each other, when Baker passed away in 2016, Daniels publicly
expressed his condolences over the loss of his former co-star.
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