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S2 E3: A Tribute to James Earl Jones · Most Things Kenobi - A Star Wars Podcast

0:00
It's most. Things Kenobi, an elegant
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podcast for a more civilized fandom.
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Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Most Things Kenobi, a
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podcast about Obi Wan Kenobi and all things Star Wars.
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I'm your host, Lauren. And I'm your host, Leanne.
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And this week we are paying homage to James Earl Jones, long
0:35
overdue and sadly not done before his passing.
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But you know what? We are now remembering him in
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totality. Yes.
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You know this, we lost a great one, but he lived, like you
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said, before we started recording.
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He lived a long and very fruitful life.
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Yeah. His list of accomplishments just
1:01
are astounding. Astounding.
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It's crazy how many movies and TV shows and commercials which I
1:10
totally forgot about. In the theater, theater,
1:15
actually, he he went back to theater recently, like within
1:19
the last 10 years. Yes, yeah.
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And I think that's fantastic. Well, you went to Broadway,
1:26
actually. I mean, yeah, the theater, if
1:29
you will. Yeah.
1:29
Yeah. I think it's, I think he's, we
1:34
all know him for the iconic voice of one Darth Vader, but
1:41
his talents span the full gamut and he's been recognized
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appropriately for his works in everything from the ground up as
1:53
far as like his beginning theater roles to film and
1:56
commercial and animations. Yeah.
2:00
You know, it's crazy. Yeah, there's a lot, a lot to
2:04
discuss, so let's dive in. Where do we even begin?
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Well, for me personally, I mean, of course, you know, of course
2:16
Star Wars 'cause we're a Star Wars podcast.
2:18
But I was actually introduced to him before I was even aware of
2:23
Star Wars. My family loved the movie Field
2:26
of Dreams. Oh yeah, yeah, yes.
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And we watched it all the time. I could probably quote that
2:32
whole movie. And James Earl Jones,
2:37
particularly in that, is so great.
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He plays a writer who was a pacifist in the 1960s and 70s
2:45
and was kind of an activist, and then he went underground and
2:48
stopped writing and stopped producing work and he's so
2:52
cynical. And cranky.
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And. Kevin Costner's character goes
3:01
to find him and their interactions are so
3:04
uncomfortable and fantastic. It's very fun, and to me, James
3:10
and Earl Jones will always be Terrence Mann.
3:13
Yeah, that's a beloved. That's a beloved film.
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I, I mean, I can name anyone and they've at least seen it once,
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you know, it's one of those films that pretty much stands
3:24
the test of time, you know? Kind of, but also it's super
3:30
weird. I never thought of it as weird
3:33
ever until I introduced my boyfriend to it a few years ago
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and he's like. This.
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Plot makes. No fucking sense.
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Nobody said that. Nobody said that.
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It's just one of those iconic films that people often
3:47
reminisce about. Not necessarily, you know, for,
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for anything that makes sense. It's just, first of all, the
3:54
whole premise is nonsensical, OK?
3:57
It absolutely, yes. Plow over a field of corn to
4:01
build a baseball field so that the ghosts of the what is it the
4:05
Chicago blacks? Well, they call them the Black
4:08
socks. The White Sox can come back and
4:11
play in play baseball in this cornfield.
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I don't know. It's fucking weird.
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Well, if you build it, they will come.
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Isn't that the thing? And they did.
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So, you know, wow, death. There's a lot of death and
4:29
spirituality and weirdness. It's filmed 2 1/2 hours from
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where I grew up. It's filmed in a town my family
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went to on vacation every single summer.
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Nice. It's very sentimental to me, but
4:43
every man I know cries watching that.
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Movie. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
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yeah. I know at least one of my
4:50
friends who said that that film makes him emotional.
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But he's a sports fan. He's a huge baseball fan.
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And it's all the the father son relationship and the heaven
5:00
catch with your dad. And it's just.
5:02
It's very Americana. Yes, yeah.
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And then throw James Earl Jones in there as a like paternal kind
5:10
of cranky paternal figure and it is pure gold.
5:13
Well, it was also like Kevin Costner's heyday, too, yes.
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He was in everything at that. Time.
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In that time period he was a fixture in movies and I don't
5:24
really know that anyone complained.
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Because no, I think he was. He's below.
5:29
He was doing well, yeah. And he's making a comeback.
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Is he? Yeah, like he just released.
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Oh gosh, I can't remember what it's called, but it's like a
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three-part film. He's directing again and yeah,
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it's. OK, Watt was unaware.
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I think when he did Waterworld and the Postman that kind of
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like after that Kevin Costner kind of like went quiet for a
5:54
while. And as he should.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
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Those water would be. Painful.
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Not good. But this is not about seeing
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Kevin Costner. Sorry.
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What was your first James Earl Jones movie?
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The Lion King. He.
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Voices Simba's dad Mufasa. So I mean I was in like 5th or
6:21
6th grade at the time and I didn't get into Star Wars until
6:25
probably 8th grade and the same by that point I didn't put the
6:30
two together. I mean obviously name.
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I had no idea, yeah. None of that makes any sense to
6:37
you. You're just enamored with
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whatever. And and The thing is, is that
6:40
James Earl Jones was not technically credited on the
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first two Star Wars movies because he was voicing over and
6:49
he. Talked about himself as a
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special effect. Yeah, yeah.
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And then by the third movie, he returned to the Jedi.
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He's like, OK, I'm, I'm partial to this.
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You can add me to the to the list as he should have been.
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I know he didn't want the credit.
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He had said that he didn't need it, didn't want it.
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But yeah, he deserves it because like, we have to talk about
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Vader, of course. Of course, of course.
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Well, before we get there, did you know this?
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This is the foundation of everything that blows me away
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about James Robe Jones, that he grew up.
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His earliest years he had a stutter.
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Yes, which just blows my mind because his voice is so iconic.
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I know, And through writing and poetry and eventual good counsel
7:35
of teachers, he overcame that and became the voice, Period.
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That is it. I just think it's amazing that
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he had such a humble beginning with his own voice.
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Yeah, truly, he said. He didn't speak from the age.
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I've I've heard two different ages 6 or 8 but like 6 to 14.
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He said he was basically mute where he wouldn't speak because
8:00
the stutter was so uncomfortable but also he said it was painful
8:05
and I don't know if that meant physically or psychologically
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but either way. Probably both.
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I saw this beautiful little snippet of an interview with him
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where he was talking about the teacher that had him read his
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own poetry in front of the class.
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And that's what gave him his voice back.
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And he was saying how it made him realize he had a he had a
8:25
right to have a voice, to have a connection with his own words
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and his own form of expression. And I was just, every time I see
8:34
him interviewed, it's I could listen to him for hours.
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He's so poetic, even in just the way that he speaks.
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It's really beautiful. He's a presence through and
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through, like you said in an interview, as as himself or
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doing anything that he's done on screen or off screen.
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The fact that he had such a terrible speech impediment that
8:57
really impeded his daily life, the true meaning of an I, I
9:04
think it's wonderful that he overcame it through such a
9:07
beautiful means and then went on to be known for his voice.
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I, I don't know, I think it's really beautiful.
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I hope he understood how much he meant to people, I think.
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I think he did, but I, I'm like all the Star Wars actors from
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that period. He he, I saw him tell a story
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where he gave AI think it was a commencement speech and he said
9:30
he should have just said it in Vader's voice and the kids would
9:33
have listened more. Closely, or they would have run,
9:39
you know? Yeah.
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I mean, it's crazy it. I don't know.
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It's just I respect the hell out of him.
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I just. I really do.
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He's such an inspiration. He really is he brings a warmth
9:51
to almost even even if he's being kind of a ball Buster
9:56
because I, I saw a movie. This is a very bizarre movie and
10:00
I don't even know why I watched it.
10:01
It was one of those like I started it at 1:00 AM and just
10:04
randomly picked something off Netflix and it was he was a.
10:10
I think it was the. Taekwondo coach, of all things.
10:15
I got to find the name of this movie.
10:18
He was excellent in it. And I have no interest in
10:23
Taekwondo. I don't care at all about
10:26
martial arts. I mean, I think it's fucking bad
10:28
ass, but like, I don't go out of my way to watch movies about,
10:32
you know, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Right.
10:35
Sure. But that's how how good he is.
10:41
He pulled me into the story. He was really engaging and he's
10:46
just awesome in everything he's in and he's so captivating.
10:51
Have you ever watched any of him speaking or doing any of the
10:56
Shakespeare pieces? Yeah, he's, I mean, he's
11:00
Othello. Yeah, I know.
11:03
It's so good. I could listen to him.
11:06
Not just like, close your eyes and listen, but watch and
11:10
listen, you know? Yeah.
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Yeah. Be engaged with the speaker.
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Yeah. On stage.
11:15
And that is rare. I mean, that is a true talent to
11:18
have presence like that. And I, I this is, this is taking
11:22
Vader out of it completely. Yeah, yeah, 'cause you can't see
11:26
him at all with that. Like that's all gone with that.
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And so when he's there's, that's something special I think about
11:33
Shakespeare and I love watching actors do Shakespeare.
11:37
There's a there's a big Shakespeare theatre here in
11:40
Chicago and I, they took us when I was very young as a field.
11:44
Trip. That's so.
11:46
Cool, because they did a little presentation for us before and
11:49
then we watched, I think it was As You Like It, which I had
11:51
never read. At the time.
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I mean they were like, just so you all know, you people in the
11:57
front row might get spit on fair.
12:02
Warning. Yeah, they're like Shakespeare
12:04
done well, produces a lot of saliva and you'll like see it
12:08
spray out when people are talking.
12:09
They were not kidding. Wow, that's cool, I didn't know
12:13
that. To see Shakespeare live is very
12:15
different than watching a movie, and if you've never seen it, I
12:18
highly recommend it. But him in Othello, I think he
12:21
actually met his wife while he was playing.
12:23
Oh yeah, his second wife, yes. 'Cause he, yes, I think it's
12:27
Cecilia Hart. Yeah, his.
12:29
Yeah. And she died.
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She died before he did, so she passed a number of years.
12:35
Ago, yeah, I think it was 2016 or I think that's.
12:39
So nice. Yeah.
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Meeting in theater. Oh God, that's romantic.
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So. It is so romantic.
12:47
Over Othello though I don't know about Othello, but.
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I was going to say, that story is not romantic, no.
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But I mean, what must have gone on, You know the.
12:57
Cause yeah. The people in a musical or play
13:01
or theatre production are also close.
13:04
Yeah, and you're watching like right up close in people's faces
13:10
them be creative like it. It's revealed before your very
13:14
eyes. And that is that must be a very
13:17
intense experience to have and realize that you're actually
13:21
like in love with one of your Co stars.
13:23
For real. Yeah.
13:26
And they they were together a long time.
13:28
It was like, what year did they meet?
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I think I have it here. Yeah. 1982 to 19 to 2016.
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So that's a very long time. Yes, yeah.
13:39
You know what other movie of his I love that I always forget he's
13:42
in what The Sandlot. Oh yeah, The Sandlot.
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Listen, I hate that kid in sand. You know what a kid, right?
13:51
Smalls. Yeah, Smalls.
13:54
You're killing me, Smalls. You're.
13:55
Killing me Smalls, but he drives me nuts.
13:59
It makes me it makes it hard for me to watch that movie.
14:02
But you're right. The Sandlot.
14:03
Yep. As an adult I realized it's one
14:06
of those kids movies where they just scream the whole time.
14:10
Also another reason why I can't watch it on repeat.
14:15
It wears me down, but I did love that movie as a kid.
14:18
It was. Actually accurate because kids
14:20
scream everything all the time. They just can't not scream so.
14:30
Also, if you ever watch the Jack Ryan movies, he's so great in in
14:35
his he has a small role in those movies.
14:38
It's like I think it's hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and
14:41
clear and present danger. He has a small part in in I
14:44
think he's in Patriot games. He might not be in that one, but
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whatever. I've.
14:48
Seen these but it's hard for me to remember.
14:50
They're they're not such classic 1990s action movies and.
14:56
The thing that's. Great about Patriot Games and
14:59
Clear and Present Danger. It's Harrison Ford and James
15:02
Earl Jones playing opposite each other in a lot of scenes.
15:05
And it's Han Solo and Darth. Yeah.
15:07
Yeah, we. Just can't not see that now.
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James Earl Jones was a part of Let Me See.
15:14
He was a part of The Comedians, which he was working alongside
15:20
Richard Burton, Liz Taylor and Alec Guinness.
15:25
No way. Obi Wan and Darth Vader, there
15:28
we go. Actually it's called The
15:31
Comedians, which is quite appropriate because those two,
15:36
Anakin and Obi Wan are. I was gonna say, none of those
15:41
actors are comedic actors. What the hell?
15:44
Jones plays a surgeon in Haitian Rebel Leader so I'm not entirely
15:48
sure. I have not seen it.
15:50
This was back in the 60s. Maybe it's not a real comedy.
15:55
That doesn't sound like comedy at all.
15:59
Liz Taylor, though, I mean, that's.
16:03
Yeah. Legends.
16:06
Yeah, and she was married to Burton, wasn't she?
16:09
If not, they were. They were having an affair.
16:12
But. It says Here The Comedians is a
16:15
1967 American political drama film.
16:18
Yeah, I was gonna say that doesn't sound funny.
16:23
And I always, I always forget that he's in Doctor Strangelove.
16:27
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Doctor Strangelove?
16:28
Yep. Stanley Kubrick.
16:30
I haven't seen that for since college so it's been a long
16:34
time, but I remember fucking loving that movie and it's it's
16:39
even better if you watch it with an audience.
16:41
It was one of the films we watched in my like one of my
16:44
film study classes. And we have to.
16:47
That's literally Yep. Yeah.
16:49
And it was like we would go on Wednesdays to a huge auditorium
16:52
and watch it and like everyone was just dying laughing.
16:57
It was so funny. See.
16:59
You and I would have been in class together.
17:01
Even if we didn't know each other, we would have taken the
17:03
same classes together. At least the the fun ones.
17:06
Not the fucking science math shit I had to do, but.
17:10
I had to do those too, but I did not want to do them because I
17:14
didn't do a language. I had to do science.
17:17
Tai chose geology, which was like, oh.
17:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the good one.
17:23
Yeah. It was fun and it got very
17:26
difficult in the the like there was a class I took, this is such
17:30
a side tangent, but I had to take a class for majors and I
17:34
had to drop it. I was, it was, it was chemistry
17:37
and physics at like an, an advanced level.
17:40
And I'm like, I'm a film student.
17:43
Like what? What?
17:45
Am I doing here? I understand my limits.
17:48
Yeah, it's like I like geology, but this is well beyond what I
17:52
wanna do. So anywho.
17:55
He actually received the National Medal of the Arts by
18:00
President George W Bush. George H.
18:03
Really. Yeah, interesting.
18:05
He won a lot of awards. He's considered there's an
18:09
acronym, an ECOT, Aircot. No, it's EGOT.
18:15
EGOT for having a He's one of the very few that has achieved
18:19
an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
18:22
Yes, yeah, yeah. Egos.
18:24
It's pretty. I'm curious, what did he win a
18:27
Grammy for? Because I've heard that
18:29
mentioned and I have no idea what that would be for.
18:32
He received a Grammy Award for best spoken word album for Great
18:36
American documents. Oh cool.
18:38
Yeah, that makes sense. That would make sense, 1977.
18:42
That's awesome. The 60s and 70s there was this
18:45
weird trend of spoken word albums.
18:48
Right, yes, which I'm here for because of his voice.
18:53
I think Leonard Nimoy did one. Did he really?
18:56
Imagine how bizarre that would be.
18:58
That would be amazing. We need to look this up, I'm
19:02
curious. I'm curious.
19:04
Yeah. I'm sure we can find it out
19:05
there somewhere. I I could read off everything
19:11
that he's won and been awarded with, but we'd be here for four
19:16
hours. He's that accomplished.
19:21
Yeah. I just.
19:23
Yes. I mean, Emmys after, Oscars
19:28
after and and of course, nominations, not just winnings,
19:31
but nominations as well, right? It goes on and on and on, of no
19:36
surprise, of no surprise. And going back to Star Wars,
19:40
which we need to, we need to talk about.
19:43
We do. He gave the rights to digitally
19:46
create his voice for as long as they need to.
19:50
So, OK, Tarkin, let's go try and follow suit, please.
19:58
What's his name? I can't.
20:00
Peter Cushing. Peter.
20:01
Listen, Peter, you're the number 2.
20:05
To to Darth Vader, just please follow in suit with the kindness
20:09
and generosity that James Earl Jones has bestowed to let us
20:12
have his voice. I guess that was how it was
20:15
created for the Kenobi show as well.
20:17
It was a rendering it. Sounded like that to me.
20:21
Honestly, it didn't sound completely.
20:23
Like organic? Yes, yeah, that and I would say
20:28
what else was he in more recently?
20:30
I guess it would be Rogue One. I wasn't sure.
20:35
It was like not a rendering for Rogue One as well.
20:39
I don't think it was though. Yeah, I think this just recently
20:42
happened and they what? Other Star Wars thing did he
20:45
give his voice to recently? Wasn't there something other
20:48
than Obi Wan? I'm like totally blanking right
20:51
now. I'm trying to remember.
20:52
Why? I don't know.
20:53
There's so many things who can. I know I've like lost track of
20:57
my own. Fandom.
20:57
Any of the animations? The other animations.
21:03
God though, I have no idea 'cause I have not been keeping
21:06
up. Anyway, yeah, we should probably
21:10
dive into to Star Wars 'cause this is a Star Wars podcast.
21:14
Well, this is the penultimate. I mean, This is why we're all
21:16
here, right? Because I don't know.
21:19
I keep wanting to say iconic because it fucking is.
21:23
Look, David Prowse made Vader as well, can't deny that.
21:28
But if you've ever watched the footage of him delivering the
21:31
lines. Yeah, no, there's a reason why
21:33
they didn't. Yeah.
21:35
Yes. I mean, it's just like he's
21:37
stumbling over the words and he's he's just trying to get it
21:40
out while flailing his arms and it's like physically he's there,
21:44
but then you add this voice and it's like there is no
21:49
comparison. Without James Earl Jones, you
21:52
really will never get just. It can't be anyone else,
21:56
honestly. Truly, truly.
21:59
And I love that it's inspired by the helmet because we only knew
22:07
Vader in the helmet right until the scene and Return of the
22:10
Jedi. But then prior to that, you
22:13
know, we have a lot more material, if you will, of, of
22:16
Vader and that sort of thing. But to me, I thought one of the
22:20
coolest moments was in the Kenobi show, in that final duel
22:25
between Kenobi and Vader. But his helmet is sawed off and
22:31
it has the back and forth blending of James Earl Jones
22:35
voice and Hayden Christensen's voice and it's like the helmet's
22:39
flickering. Like it?
22:40
Yes. You know, and it's almost like
22:42
Anakin's flickering in and out of that character, but it's the
22:46
mechanism in the helmet that's supposed to be making that
22:50
voice, right? I thought it was brilliant
22:52
because the symbolism in there's two individuals, you know,
22:57
there's two entities fighting for control, if you will, in
23:00
their soul. But James Earl Jones is like,
23:05
that's his voice in a helmet. And the fact that it makes it
23:09
scarier, I guess, is what I'm getting at.
23:12
Because outside of that, every other example we have of Vader
23:16
is of the Anakin sort. Right, right.
23:20
And the. Various actors who have voiced
23:21
him, but only one voice comes out of that helmet and it's
23:24
James Earl Jones and it's the menacing dark.
23:28
I mean it just menacing scary. He's scary bitch.
23:35
He scares the shit out of me and I love it.
23:37
I only want that voice coming down the hallway killing people
23:41
and he didn't even speak. He didn't even speak.
23:44
But if he had, it would have been even worse and even
23:47
scarier. It's just not the same.
23:51
The Star Wars audio dramas they have, I mean, they have Mark
23:56
Hamill and that's pretty much and I guess, Oh my God, I'm
24:00
totally blanking on who plays Lando.
24:01
What happened to my brain? What is his name?
24:06
What happened to my brain? I literally can't remember his
24:08
name. D something Billy D Williams.
24:12
Holy fuck. There's D Bradley Baker and
24:15
Billy D Williams, and I knew it was a triple and I was like.
24:19
Yeah, that was fucking rough. It's my poor brain has had a
24:24
day. So it's just there.
24:25
The cast is the like any members from the original cast is Mark
24:29
Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels.
24:33
But the voice of Vader is played by Brock Peters, who is actually
24:38
he plays Tom and To Kill a Mockingbird for anyone who's
24:41
seen that move from the 60s. And though he's great, like it's
24:45
not the same. It's just, it's, it doesn't
24:48
have, I think, the groundedness that James Earl Jones brings to
24:53
it, 'cause he. Brings.
24:54
Scary and angry and you can see his rage come up like when he
24:59
screams like. Yeah, this.
25:01
Is a counsellorship. Where is the ambassador?
25:04
You know, like I love his vocal infraction in that moment, but
25:09
he's also very stable and steady and grounded.
25:12
And I just believe that that character is totally fine with
25:17
how he is. You know what I mean?
25:19
Like he knows he's powerful. He's not second guessing himself
25:23
at all. There's no self consciousness in
25:25
it. And that's all portrayed
25:26
vocally. And then he's got this great
25:29
story about when they did Empire Strikes Back, he was trying to
25:32
do even better. And George Lucas was like, it's
25:35
not quite working. And I think because Vader is,
25:41
you never see his face. He's a machine, basically.
25:44
They told him to have like, bring his vocal range down to a
25:47
very He called it a narrow band. So that there's.
25:51
He's not going too far into any emotion in any direction because
25:55
they want him to seem inhuman. Right.
25:59
And I just think that's so brilliant.
26:01
Imagine getting that feedback and now you have to portray
26:05
that. Like where do you even start?
26:07
I don't know. And that's why they're so good
26:08
at what they do, yeah. It's incredible.
26:12
It's just so brilliant. It's brilliant direction.
26:15
It is truly. And it's just a brilliant
26:18
performance because by all the way to the end, like think of
26:21
the range that that character has gone through in A New Hope.
26:25
He's just like a faceless Terror and Empire Strikes Back.
26:29
He seems really sinister because you're not sure what his
26:32
motivations are. And by Return of the Jedi, you
26:36
kind of have to believe that he's completing the circle, that
26:40
he's starting to have little cracks because Luke is trying to
26:44
get to him, you know, And like we always say with voice actors,
26:48
how do they do it without getting to use their physical
26:52
bodies? Like it's all inflection.
26:55
It's just so mind blowing to me. If I were to ask you what's your
27:00
favorite Darth Vader line as delivered by James Earl Jones,
27:04
could you come up with just one? The one I'm going to bring up is
27:10
probably nobody's favorite ever. I mean, I have a lot.
27:15
I love when he says a sister. You have a sister.
27:20
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:24
And the way he. Says it.
27:26
You can tell he's smiling. You're just like, oh, fuck.
27:30
I remember feeling so scared as a kid when he said that.
27:34
And I'm like, oh, my God. Like, not only is Luke in
27:36
danger, but now Leia is also in danger.
27:39
She's not even here. Nope.
27:41
Yeah, I loved that. That would be.
27:44
That's the one that comes to mind first.
27:45
That's a pretty good one. I have another one, so you go
27:48
ahead and tell. Me.
27:49
No, No, no, no, no, no, no. Go ahead.
27:52
I love the I find your lack of faith disturbing because I just
27:55
adore that scene. The whole thing that one is
27:58
that's right up there, I mean. Bickering in a conference room,
28:02
strangling someone and Tarkin is like, could you please let him
28:05
go? Yes.
28:07
What is yours? Well, I really, really like the
28:11
be careful not to choke on your aspirations because I mean, I
28:17
can literally see Anakin in there doing that and thinking he
28:20
like, he like really killed it. He like really killed it with
28:24
Chronic like like mic drop, you know?
28:28
Yeah, exactly. But I really think that if I
28:34
were to, it's hard. It's hard because there's the no
28:40
I am your father, which is. Right.
28:42
Fucking also mic drop moment, but I think it's the one that I
28:50
really enjoy the delivery of his but you are not a Jedi yet when
28:54
he's talking to yes, taunting. Oh my God, I love that scene.
28:58
Yeah. So I think that's like my
28:59
favorite, like overall encompassing.
29:03
Yeah. You know.
29:05
Because then you're like, oh, maybe this is not going to.
29:08
Go. Well, Yeah, yeah.
29:10
I mean, he's literally taunting and and dangling it right in
29:13
front of Luke, so to speak, but snatches it away.
29:17
But you are not a Jedi yet. And it's the way he delivers it.
29:20
It's a little playful, but not because it's it's playful in
29:24
that dark way. Yes, yeah, it is.
29:27
Again, you can kind of tell he's kind of getting a dark pleasure
29:31
out of that. Moment and for sure I love.
29:33
I also just love the technique of the way he says yet and like
29:37
makes the hard. Tea at the end?
29:39
Yeah, like he, he knows something, and you better watch
29:43
out. Yeah, that whole interaction.
29:46
Yeah, it's a good one. Like basically that whole fight
29:49
on Bespin is so great because it's just those little he's just
29:54
toying with him. He's just fucking with Luke the
29:56
entire time. But when he falls down the
29:58
stairs, he's like, wow, this gameplay fly.
30:04
I that part, like, totally undermines everything because
30:06
it's so like, whoa, he's an old man with metal legs, Gary.
30:12
Cannot catch himself. No, that cracks me up only for
30:17
personal reasons. I just.
30:19
Oh man, I will say my least favorite line though is the no
30:23
no. I really hope they didn't make
30:26
James Earl Jones record that. I hope not.
30:29
I hope it's fake black. What was your other line?
30:33
Did you did you say it? Yeah, it was the I find your
30:36
lack of faith. This time, oh oh, Oh yeah.
30:38
Yeah. Iconic.
30:39
Yep. I also really like when he goes
30:42
what? That's a good one too.
30:48
Yeah, it's the delivery. Yeah, it's that's a damn helmet.
30:56
There's a great moment which I think it's really just David
30:58
Prowess, but you can tell like Vader, like David Prowess,
31:01
couldn't tell how close he was to somebody.
31:03
Yeah, right. And he?
31:04
Turns. Right, like saves life, right?
31:09
It's it works though. It works.
31:10
Though, because it does if Vader would totally be in your
31:13
personal space and not give any fucks.
31:15
Not 0 fucks given 00. So to close out this episode, I
31:21
mean, we would need like 4 weeks of episodes to really, really
31:26
honor every single aspect of James Earl Jones's life.
31:30
But just remembering his presence in these movies and the
31:33
shows and on Broadway and listening to him and just
31:37
enjoying what he's brought to us here in the Star Wars world is,
31:42
is everything. But we'll end the episode with a
31:45
quote from George Lucas himself, which was in a statement that
31:49
was released following when James Earl Jones passed, which
31:51
was on September 9th of 2024. He said quote.
31:56
Well, he called Jones quote. An incredible actor and a most
31:59
unique voice both in art and spirit.
32:02
For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader.
32:05
But the secret to it all is that he was a beautiful human being.
32:09
He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all of his roles,
32:13
amongst the most important being a devoted husband to the late CC
32:16
and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many
32:20
of us, friends and fans alike. That's so beautiful.
32:23
From the man himself, right? Yeah.
32:26
He summed it up. I love that he pointed out what
32:28
a like devoted family man he was 'cause he even in certain
32:32
interviews he would find ways to bring up his son and talk about
32:36
his his child in interviews 'cause you could tell he really
32:40
cared and loved him. You know, he's Darth Vader to us
32:44
and all these other actors, but he was a husband and a dad and a
32:47
friend and a damn good actor with the most unique voice in
32:51
art and spirit. So our question to you is what
33:00
is your favorite or favorite set of roles that James Earl Jones
33:06
did outside of the Star Wars universe, outside of the role of
33:10
Darth Vader? Or what was your first exposure
33:14
to James Earl Jones? Was it through Star Wars or was
33:16
it through something else like Lauren and I talked about?
33:18
Let us know and you can comment on Spotify.
33:21
You can go to our website or let us know in any of our our social
33:24
medias. And for our next episode, we're
33:28
going back to Obi Wan Kenobi because it's been a hot minute.
33:33
It's been too long. It's far too.
33:34
Long. Too, too long.
33:37
But we're going to take an interesting curve, like a little
33:39
little side journey, if you will, back to the Kenobi series.
33:43
And we're going to talk about the original ideas from the
33:46
original director, correct? The writer, I don't know if they
33:50
had a. Director.
33:51
Or. Whatever.
33:53
There was an original set idea for the show and then everything
33:57
changed and we got what we got. So we're going to go over what
33:59
was in those original notes, original ideas, plot lines,
34:02
etcetera. And basically they just talk
34:04
about Obi Wan because that's what we do.
34:06
Awesome. So join us on the next episode.
34:11
And last week we talked about our and, or Season 2 predictions
34:16
and we asked folks what they're most excited for for Season 2
34:23
and Jose Roberto Correa said the third said.
34:27
Yes. So stoked to have K2 SO back
34:30
this season. I'm especially excited to check
34:32
back in with and Deidre I. I absolutely hope they end up in
34:38
some sort of effed up relationship where Cyril
34:41
projects his mommy issues. Yes Deidre.
34:44
Deidre holds all the power. Well, I I could see if if it
34:50
were to go that direction, I would need both of those things
34:53
to occur in order for it to be truly believable.
34:58
Right. And I responded.
35:00
Can you imagine Cereal bringing Deidre home to meet his mom?
35:04
Oh, that would be like there. 'D be a lot of stairs across the
35:09
table. Yeah, I don't know which would
35:11
be frostier. This is true and cereal just be
35:15
eating a cereal because that's what cereals do.
35:17
They eat cereals. Thank you for that comment.
35:22
It is excellent and we're super, super excited for K2 SO.
35:26
Yes, I live for that Droid. Yes.
35:30
Thank you so much for joining us.
35:31
Here are the Most Things Kenobi podcast.
35:33
We appreciate every single one of our patrons and are grateful
35:36
for your support. If you'd like to support the
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35:41
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35:51
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to find all of these, head over to Most Things kenobi.com.
36:01
So until next time, Myspace Twin, may the Force be with you.
36:06
Always. Music.