Ian Patrick, FISM News

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James Earl Jones, the acclaimed actor who is best known for his voice-over role as the iconic Star Wars villain Darth Vader, recently made headlines when it was announced that he was stepping back from voicing the role.

The news was announced through a Vanity Fair article detailing how Jones’ voice was used in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series which premiered on Disney+.

Jones, who is 91 years old, told Matthew Wood, the supervising sound editor at Skywalker Ranch, that he was looking to step back from the role after recording what would be his last voice cameo as Vader for 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. 

After telling Vanity Fair that Jones “mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character,” Wood asked: “how do we move forward?”

The answer came through Ukrainian start-up company ReSpeecher. Using archived recording of Jones’ voice and an artificial intelligence algorithm, the company was able to recreate Vader’s voice for the show and, possibly, for future projects.

Respeecher has worked with Lucasfilm in the past on some of its other Star Wars Disney+ shows including The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian. Although, in these instances, the company worked to create a younger-sounding Mark Hamill for their version of Luke Skywalker after the events of Return of the Jedi.

Upon hearing samples of the Ukrainian company’s work, Jones signed off on using what archived audio exists of his voice as Darth Vader to keep the character going through this AI program. Jones stayed on as a source of guidance for those working on Obi-Wan Kenobi concerning Vader’s menacing sound.

Whether or not he will keep working in other capacities is not entirely known, but Jones has already racked up a worthwhile and industrious career.

Besides his work as one of the most iconic villains with arguably the greatest movie twist of all time, Jones is also widely known for his roles on stage and on Broadway. He has received the National Medal of Arts and The John F. Kennedy Center Honor.

Jones is also a rare EGOT-winning actor putting him in the ranks of few who have received at least one award from each of the four major entertainment categories.

He has won two Tony Awards for his Broadway roles in The Great White Hope and Fences and an honorary Oscar award from the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He received a Grammy for his work on the spoken word album The Christmas Miracle Of Jonathan Toomey and he won two Emmy awards for two different roles in two different television programs.

And, in case Darth Vader isn’t anyone’s cup of tea, he also voiced Mufasa in the Disney 90’s classic animated movie The Lion King.

Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, wrote in a statement that Jones “has given us a lifetime of unforgettable performances on the stage, and his voice resonates through generations.”

“His legacy is unmatched and his work has had an impact not only on Broadway but across the entire galaxy!”