If you’re a Star Wars fan, then you’re in for the greatest thrill of your long, healthy life, because the creator of the series himself just dropped some incredible trivia about how he came up with one of the greatest villains in movie history. George Lucas has revealed that the character of Darth Vader was based on Yoda.
Amazing! It’s so cool to get this kind of behind-the-scenes insight into how Star Wars was made.
“The idea for Darth Vader basically came from looking at Yoda and the way Yoda behaves,” Lucas divulged in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published earlier this week. “We were filming The Empire Strikes Back for 15 hours a day, and Yoda was constantly near me, and I thought to myself, ‘Yoda is such an interesting guy. I’d love to get him into Star Wars somehow. So I came up with this character that’s basically Yoda, and I called him Darth Vader, and the rest is history.’”
This is so cool! We always knew Darth Vader seemed familiar, and now we know why: He’s based on Yoda!
“Obviously, the character of Darth Vader is much taller and fatter than the real Yoda,” Lucas continues in the interview, “but everything else about Darth Vader and Yoda is basically the same. They both use the force. They both feel most at home in the swamp. They both cut off their son’s hand. They both like to kill people and complain. They both bite people who get all up in their space. And, just like Yoda, Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker before he was seduced by the power of the Dark Side. Darth Vader was just my way of bringing Yoda to the silver screen.”
Later in this amazing interview, Lucas drops the awe-inspiring trivia tidbit that Chewbacca was a composite character based on a combination of Han Solo and Harrison Ford. The Star Wars creator also tells the interviewer the fascinating story of how he first met Han Solo when Han Solo was auditioning for the role of C-3PO in Return Of The Jedi (sadly, Han Solo didn’t get the part, and the role of C-3PO eventually went to C-3PO. Han Solo was later cast in the role of Yoda). If you aren’t standing up and cheering right now, then you don’t deserve to call yourself a Star Wars fan!
We are absolutely giddy with excitement over this awesome new look at the history of our favorite film franchise. It’s so cool to know that, through the character of Darth Vader, George Lucas was able to tell the story of Yoda and his incredible life. It’s an amazing testament to what a charismatic and interesting person Yoda is that he could inspire such a legendary movie icon. We can’t wait to rewatch all the movies with this brand new perspective!
