Page 1 of 3

Actors/Actresses who regretted being in SW?

Posted: 2005-06-14 02:09am
by Battlehymn Republic
As I recall, Alec Guiness once told a child to never watch Star Wars again, or say "May the Force be with you", or something like that after the kid asked for an autograph and only knew him from Star Wars.

Does anyone know of any actors or actresses who have expressed unhappiness with having being in Star Wars, or being identified only with Star Wars?

Posted: 2005-06-14 02:28am
by Jim Raynor
I heard that Liam Neeson didn't want to be a part of the prequels after TPM, which was why he only had a single VO line in AOTC, and didn't show up at all in ROTS.

Posted: 2005-06-14 02:29am
by Old Plympto
IIRC Hugh Quarshie and Ralph Brown in TPM.

Posted: 2005-06-14 05:25am
by Kurgan
Harrison Ford wanted his character killed off at the end of ESB.

Posted: 2005-06-14 06:10am
by PainRack
Kurgan wrote:Harrison Ford wanted his character killed off at the end of ESB.
Wasn't it ROTJ?
As I recall, Alec Guiness once told a child to never watch Star Wars again, or say "May the Force be with you", or something like that after the kid asked for an autograph and only knew him from Star Wars.

Does anyone know of any actors or actresses who have expressed unhappiness with having being in Star Wars, or being identified only with Star Wars?
Why is this a sign of unhappiness? One of the trivia books about Star Wars which carried this account stated that Alec said this when he heard that the boy had went to ANH 20 times since its opening.

Also, what does one mean by unhappiness? Mark Hamill has made comments before about how his ass was essentially owned by George Lucas.....

Posted: 2005-06-14 06:46am
by HemlockGrey
Mark Hamill is a big Star Wars fan. I recently read an interview with him in Stars and Stripes and he loves the saga.

Alec Guinness, on the other hand, trashed all his Star Wars fan mail without ever reading it and hated being associated with Star Wars (he was also a prick, but whatever).

Posted: 2005-06-14 07:15am
by Karza
Jim Raynor wrote:I heard that Liam Neeson didn't want to be a part of the prequels after TPM, which was why he only had a single VO line in AOTC, and didn't show up at all in ROTS.
What the... What's this VO line? When is it heard?

Posted: 2005-06-14 07:21am
by Old Plympto
Karza wrote:What the... What's this VO line? When is it heard?
At Yoda's meditation room just after Anakin slaughtered those Tusken Raiders. "Anakin. Nooo!!!" But I thought this was an unused Liam Neeson line from Phantom Menace that they tacked onto the soundtrack?

Post 500! Yes!

Posted: 2005-06-14 08:07am
by Caius
Okay for Alec he had done some amazing rolls before SW that certainly made him a respected stage and screen legend. Then to have future generation's only remember him from SW, I can understand why the guy would be upset.

Plus SW came on later in his life when he just wanted to get away from it all with his wife and devote himself to his religion. According to his friends on a biography that I saw a month or two ago.

Posted: 2005-06-14 08:13am
by Hardy
Natalie Portman doesn't, in my opinion, look very comfortable when acting on a blue screen, especially when there's a lack of props.
HemlockGrey wrote:Mark Hamill is a big Star Wars fan. I recently read an interview with him in Stars and Stripes and he loves the saga.
That contradicts an interview on a morning show (e.g. Today, Good Morning America) (on May 19th, I'm certain) in which he states that he was simply an actor doing his job and has a comparitively little interest in the series, or something to that effect.

Posted: 2005-06-14 08:18am
by HemlockGrey
Really? He sounded like a fan in the Stars and Stripes interview.

Posted: 2005-06-14 08:31am
by Hardy
HemlockGrey wrote:Really? He sounded like a fan in the Stars and Stripes interview.
Should be the corresponding article. I may have confused "interest" for "knowledge" when making the above post.

Posted: 2005-06-14 10:22am
by Il Saggiatore
I am surprised that nobody mentioned Carrie Fisher.
Or is it a urban legend that she was not very happy of being associated only with Star Wars?

Posted: 2005-06-14 10:30am
by MrAnderson
Il Saggiatore wrote:I am surprised that nobody mentioned Carrie Fisher.
Or is it a urban legend that she was not very happy of being associated only with Star Wars?
Other than a bit role in "When Harry Met Sally" she really has had a nobody career. If Carrie wasnt known for SW then she wouldnt be known at all.

Posted: 2005-06-14 10:32am
by Chmee
MrAnderson wrote:
Il Saggiatore wrote:I am surprised that nobody mentioned Carrie Fisher.
Or is it a urban legend that she was not very happy of being associated only with Star Wars?
Other than a bit role in "When Harry Met Sally" she really has had a nobody career. If Carrie wasnt known for SW then she wouldnt be known at all.
(a) she was never going to come close to her mother's career in acting

(b) I'll always love her moments with a rocket launcher and assault rifle in The Blues Brothers!

Posted: 2005-06-14 10:40am
by Stofsk
Chmee wrote:
MrAnderson wrote:
Il Saggiatore wrote:I am surprised that nobody mentioned Carrie Fisher.
Or is it a urban legend that she was not very happy of being associated only with Star Wars?
Other than a bit role in "When Harry Met Sally" she really has had a nobody career. If Carrie wasnt known for SW then she wouldnt be known at all.
(a) she was never going to come close to her mother's career in acting

(b) I'll always love her moments with a rocket launcher and assault rifle in The Blues Brothers!
Don't forget her flamethrower.

Posted: 2005-06-14 10:42am
by Spanky The Dolphin
Hasn't Fisher been having a rather successful career as a writer these days?

Posted: 2005-06-14 11:00am
by El Moose Monstero
Wasn't Ewan McGregor reported as getting pissed off with Star Wars by the end of Episode III? I can't point to any articles, it's just something my friend, who's an avid reader of the various film mags and the like was mentioning to me.

Posted: 2005-06-14 11:06am
by The Spartan
Jim Raynor wrote:I heard that Liam Neeson didn't want to be a part of the prequels after TPM, which was why he only had a single VO line in AOTC, and didn't show up at all in ROTS.
I was under the impression his dislike of it came from all the blue/green screen work he'd been having to do. Both for TPM and other movies.

Posted: 2005-06-14 12:17pm
by DPDarkPrimus
Portman should regret being in Star Wars, what with her not being a fan and being unable to get into the "reality" of the fiction, that is to say, taking her role seriously. (According to an interview with Hayden Christensen)

Posted: 2005-06-14 12:25pm
by Stofsk
Which interview was this?

Posted: 2005-06-14 12:32pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
I actually also recall a report from the set during filming of AotC that Hayden once threw sort of a fit because of Portman's difficulting taking things seriously.

Posted: 2005-06-14 01:00pm
by irishmick79
I think Carrie Fisher had other things to worry about when she was shooting Star Wars, like, a runaway drug addiction. If she does have bad memories, I'd guess it has more to do with her drug problems than with Star Wars.

Posted: 2005-06-14 01:25pm
by Tsyroc
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Hasn't Fisher been having a rather successful career as a writer these days?
She did write a sucessful book that was turned into a movie.

Plus I think Lucas has had her work on some of the dialog in the prequels.

Posted: 2005-06-14 01:25pm
by DPDarkPrimus
Stofsk wrote:Which interview was this?
I don't remember, but I read it myself. :P