Star Wars actors have made a dizzying movie career. Now they get fabulous fees for filming in films. But once they were also “beginners”, and some of them were even losers. How did they manage to get into the famous film of George Lucas?
"Star Wars. Episode 1 ": actors. Liam Neeson
In the picture of George Lucas, Liam Neeson played one of the main roles - the character of Qui-Gon Jinn. It was Qui-Gon who insisted that the famous Anakin Skywalker become a Jedi, despite the Council’s disagreement. The hero of Neeson in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd episodes of the star saga took an active part in the fate of the planet Naboo, Skywalker and Princess Amidala.
The actors of Star Wars for the most part were not stars of the first magnitude before filming in the science fiction film of Lucas. However, even before this project, Liam Neeson already had leading roles, for example, in the cult film Schindler's List, as well as in the commercially successful films The Man of Darkness and Michael Collins.
"Star Wars" helped the Irishman strengthen his position in Hollywood. It was after his participation in the cult picture of George Lucas that Neeson opened the doors to the sets of such celebrities as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan. For his last film, “Hostage 3,” Liam received a fee of $ 20 million. Today Neeson is in the top 10 highest paid actors in Hollywood.
Star Wars: actors and roles. Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala
For the first time, Natalie Portman flashed on large screens in tandem with Jean Renault in Luc Besson's Leon. Then the young actress was only 13 years old. However, after Leon, the girl did not take part in any box office film until she got into George Lucas’s project.
Actors of "Star Wars" got a chance to break into the "big" movie. And Portman used it 100%. Despite the fact that for the role of Queen Amidala, Portman was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Prize, her affairs after participating in the Lucas project improved. In 2003, the actress gets a role in the famous film "Cold Mountain", where Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger become her partners on the set. At the box office, the picture earned 173 million dollars with a budget of 79 million.
Then there were shootings in such famous projects as “V means vendetta”, “Ghosts of Goya”, “Another of the Boleyn family”. And for her role in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Portman received an Oscar.
Hayden Christensen as Skywalker
In the 2nd episode of Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker grows up and turns into a charming young man. The role of the guy was entrusted to the Canadian film actor Hayden Christensen.
If such Star Wars actors as Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson made it to the heights of Hollywood, then Christensen, despite his beauty, never made a dizzying acting career. Of course, the young man starred in all these years in some films, but not a single famous project in his filmography, except for Star Wars and the drama "Anesthesia," is not.
In 2017, the sequel to Star Wars is to be released, in which Hayden Christensen is also planning to participate. Perhaps he will also appear in the 9th episode of the movie saga. True, the director of these films is no longer George Lucas, but a certain Ryan Johnson, whose filmography currently includes only three films little known to the public.
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Star Wars, whose actors and roles became known around the world at one time, gave American cinema another star - Harrison Ford. Ford's character - Han Solo - immediately fell in love with moviegoers: courageous, ironic, prone to adventures. "Soldier of Fortune" Han Solo is on the list of "100 best heroes and villains of the American Film Institute." However, the life of Harrison Ford before filming in the star epic can hardly be called "heroic."
Ford began acting in films since 1966. However, he was haunted by the stigma of a “loser”: he was not offered good roles, and in the film Zabriskie Point, all scenes with the actor’s participation were cut out. Then Harrison decided to do something that really brings income, and became ... a carpenter.
Perhaps Ford to this day would be an ordinary worker, if not for the case that brought him to the set of American Graffiti. Harrison was invited to this film by George Lucas, because the budget was too small, and the director could not hire first-class actors: in fact, thirty-year-old Harrison Ford starred for free. But the film was unexpectedly successful and was even nominated for an Oscar. Four years later, Harrison Ford - still by accident - ended up on the set of Star Wars, but not as the main actor, but as a reader of the voiceover. Ford's sharp remarks during the work, his humor and irony led to the fact that all applicants for the role looked faded in comparison with the "carpenter-reader". The role of Han Solo went to Harrison and turned him into a Hollywood star of the first magnitude.
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
Famous at the time were such members of the star saga as Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and many others. But the career of these actors has long gone into decline, while Samuel L. Jackson to this day remains the first-rate star in Hollywood. In the filmography of the actor - more than 100 works. Of course, one of the best in Jackson’s career is the role of the Jedi Mace Windu in George Lucas’s Star Wars movie.
The episode, the actors of which took Samuel to their creative team, raised $ 997 million in the year of the first release, and almost 529 million in the year of the re-release. This is a success! Guess which movie in question? Of course, this was episode number 1 of the stellar epic - "The Phantom Menace." It was then that Samuel L. Jackson first appeared before the audience in the image of the charismatic Jedi Mace Windu.
After filming in Star Wars, the actor took part in many well-known and commercially successful projects: Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino, the action movie "Avenger" by Frank Miller, the films of the Marvel movie company "Iron Man-2", "Thor", "First Avenger" etc.
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Actors of the movie "Star Wars" subsequently more than once became participants in Hollywood hit films. The same can be said of Ewan McGregor, who, after filming in the cult epic of George Lucas, got the main roles in such famous films as Moulin Rouge, Ghost and Black Hawk directed by Ridley Scott. In 2017, the premiere of the film “Beauty and the Beast” is planned, where the charming Scot MacGregor will play the role of Lumiere.