As May 4th is the official “post a meme about Star Wars” day, many fans are reflecting on their favorite moments from the galaxy not-so-far-away. Despite the fact that the franchise has become a massive Disney property with some debatable installments, it’s still a great time to look back at all of the fun tidbits about the series, especially the originals, which featured the scariest villain ever at the time, Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones.
The EGOT winner has been open about his love of the character and has reprised the role as often as he could. But with an instantly recognizable voice like that, it’s only natural to wonder if he used his Vader voice for evil outside of the movies.
In an interview on The Dick Cavett Show in 1995, Jones discussed his iconic Vader voice, which he admitted he did use in public, at one point. Only after he began scaring people is when he decided to quit it.
“I was driving across the country with a CB radio and I used ‘Darth Vader’ as my handle,” the actor explained. “It freaked a lot of people out. When I got to the truck stop, there was a buzz about it. So, I decided not to do that anymore.” Maybe he began using “King Mufasa” instead?
Jones then discussed how he has complicated feelings about his voice, as he used to struggle with a stutter. “I can’t string ideas and words together that well,” the actor admitted, though Cavett said he actually sounds very eloquent. Plus we all know of some words he can string together.
Check out the interview here.