May the facts be with you.
Originally appeared at BuzzFeed
1. The actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alec Guiness, thought of the Star Wars films as “fairy-tale rubbish”.
2. Despite this, he negotiated a deal to earn 2% of the gross box office receiptsfor the movies he appeared in, earning him over $95 million.
3. Harrison Ford was paid $10,000 for his performance in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
4. Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin, found his costume boots so uncomfortable that he wore slippers during many of his scenes, and insisted his feet just never be in the shots.
5. The sound of the TIE Fighter engines is actually the sound of an elephant callmixed with the sounds of a car driving on wet pavement.
6. Steven Spielberg made a bet with George Lucas for a percentage of the Star Wars films, which has earned him millions of dollars since.
7. While shooting the scene in the trash compactor, Mark Hamill held his breath for so long that he burst a blood vessel in the side of his face. They had to adjust framing while shooting the rest of the scene to avoid showing the blemish.
8. Many of the buildings constructed to be used in shots of Tatooine are still standing in Tunisia. In fact, some of them are still used by locals.
9. Denis Lawson, who played Wedge Antilles, is Ewan McGregor’s uncle.
10. Luke Skywalker was originally going to be named Luke Starkiller, and retained the name up until the film begin shooting. Luckily, the name was never mentioned, so it was changed to Skywalker with little effort.
11. The starship that became the Blockade Runner seen at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope was the original design for the Millennium Falcon.
12. The Jawa language is based on a sped-up version of the Zulu language.
13. The language Greedo speaks is a South American language called Quechua.
14. The bounty hunter Bossk’s clothing is a recycled spacesuit from Doctor Who.
15. Yoda’s species has never been named.
16. Mark Hamill was in a bad car accident before filming started on Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, causing severe facial trauma. The scene in which Luke Skywalker is mauled by a Wampa was added to account for the scarring on his face.
17. Yoda was originally going to played by a monkey carrying a cane and wearing a mask.
For dozens more Star Wars facts you may not know, visit BuzzFeed
Dennis Lawson (Ewan McGregor’s uncle) also played Gordon Urquhart in “Local Hero”. Peter Capaldi, the new Dr. Who, was also in Local Hero. The last scene of Local Hero features a call box, but it’s red, not blue. Just a little universe overlap tidbit. 🙂
1. Can we all agree right now to stop including “You Don’t Know” and the like in article titles? If the author found this information, other people have access to it. Therefore, someone else out there knows it, too. It makes the author (and the hosting site) look like idiots.
2. GMP, can you please, please, PLEASE stop trying to be BuzzFeed?