'Use the force Luke'

These days for an actor, it's all about getting your name in the credits. Even if it's only as Confused Bystander No. 2, if your name is up there, it means something. It would be almost unheard of for an actor to voice a major leading role and then request not to be credited for it. But that's exactly what James Earl Jones did in 1977. For years people thought that David Prowse (the actor in the black plastic suit) was the voice behind Darth Vader because he was the only name credited. Mr. Jones had felt that since he only supplied the voice, he really didn't do enough of the work to earn the billing. Of course, this was long before Mr. 'This-is-CNN' became famous. He was indeed given his own billing in the 1997 re-release of the film, and has one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood today.

Going along with the 'Before they were stars' theme, it's hard to imagine how Harrison Ford's career would have fared if he had not been cast as Han Solo. Which incidentally, almost occurred. Since most of the cast were unknowns, the powers that be wanted at least one 'Name' star attached to the movie. So they hired (drum roll please)....Burt Reynolds?? Yes, indeed. Mr. Reynolds was originally cast in the role of Han Solo but dropped out before filming began. I guess the lure of the force wasn't strong enough to keep Smokey from his Bandit. Or is it Bandit from his Smokey?!?


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