James Earl Jones’s iconic Darth Vader voice lives on in Star Wars, thanks to a decision he made just before his death

The labored breathing accompanied by a foreboding rumbling tone that can give you chills made Darth Vader one of the more dreaded villains to ever appear on screen. The voice behind the iconic character from Star Wars, James Earl Jones, will continue to live on screen thanks to technology. Before he died in 2024, Jones had signed over the rights to Lucasfilm to refabricate his voice using artificial intelligence.

Jones, who was a stutterer when he was younger, voiced the black masked and red-lightsabre-carrying Darth Vader in all Star Wars movies. His deep, menacing voice became synonymous with the character itself. In 2022, however, he decided to retire from the role. Lucasfilm partnered with an international A.I. company to keep the character going in the legendary franchise.

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James Earl Jones as Darth Vader in Star Wars

Jones first voiced Darth Vader for George Lucas’s 1977 movie Star Wars: Episode IV -A New Hope, which he recorded famously within two and half hours. He went on to voice the character for all Star Wars movies. He last recorded as Darth Vader for Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

With his deep bass voice, Jones brought gravitas to the authoritative persona of Darth Vader, and today, it is hard to imagine the character sounding any other way. Ben Burtt, the Sound Designer on A New Hope, had used a scuba tank regulator to add the mechanical breathing sound to Jones' voice recording, to make Darth Vader almost non-human like.

As per StarWars.com, Jones had shared,

“The technique about recording that voice was to keep it within very strict boundaries of inflection, and there was no way to enlighten the voice with awareness… In fact, my job was to keep awareness out of Darth Vader’s voice, take all the humanity out of it.”

Actor David Prowse portrayed the character on screen for the first instalment of the Star Wars movies. Jones would recall,

“David Prowse worked very hard to create Darth Vader…I take no credit for the character. I think that performance is in your head. Vader is good proof that if you stay out of the way of a character…good, effective dialogue will evoke in the viewer or listener all kinds of wonderful things that come from the viewer’s mind.”

Darth Vader’s famous line ‘I am your father, was one of the more iconic moments on screen that is still among the most discussed plots in the franchise. Jones reminisced,

“When I first saw the dialogue that said, ‘Luke I am your father,’ I said to myself, ‘He’s lying, I wonder how they’re gonna play that lie out… Darth Vader doesn't think he's evil. And then the suggestion that he has not always been evil, so the story becomes, “How does one become evil and how is one redeemed from it?”

Jones earned his final screen credit for the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, where Darth Vader appears in his suit in flashback scenes.

On September 9, 2024, the celebrated actor passed away at the age of 93. Speaking about his contribution to the Star Wars franchise, filmmaker George Lucas shared through a statement on StarWars.com,

“James was an incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit…For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us...friends and fans alike.”

Jones was part of several films and shows that made for an incredible filmography. His acclaimed portrayal of Mufasa in the animated movie The Lion King is one of his more revered roles on screen.

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James Earl Jones' voice lives on with AI in Star Wars

In September 2022, James Earl Jones shared his decision to retire and step back from Darth Vader’s character in Star Wars. Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor at Lucasfilm, spoke to Vanity Fair about continuing the legacy of Darth Vader with Jones’ voice. He said,

“He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character. So how do we move forward?”

As per Vanity Fair, the legendary actor signed over the rights to Lucasfilm so they can recreate his voice using AI for any future endeavors. The AI innovation was developed by a Ukrainian tech start-up called Respeecher.

With their proprietary A.I. algorithm, Respeecher uses artists’ archival recordings to create new dialogues. One of the ways they got their current role at Lucasfilm was their ability to make Jones’s unforgettable voice sound like it did during the first instalment of the franchise. In the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Jone’s voice was made to sound like it was from 45 years ago.

Wood shared,

“For a character such as Darth Vader, who might have 50 lines on a show, I might have a back-and-forth of almost over 10,000 files.”

About his legacy in the Star Wars franchise, Jones had shared,

“I am so pleased to be a part of that whole legend. Even as an observer, and I am just an observer. I’m a special effect, you know, at best.”

James Earl Jones was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including Emmy, Grammy, Ton,y and Oscar. Earning himself one of the rare EGOT titles. We can now wait and watch (or listen) if the legendary voice of Jones will grace the Star Wars franchise again.

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