Casting of the Star Wars prequels in the 1970s
As strange as it sounds, after the release of Star wars in 1977, famous director George Lucas retroactively decided that it would be the fourth installment of the series. As a result, audiences would have to wait over two decades to see the events that happened before the original film.
He wouldn’t fill the story of Anakin turning to the dark side and Palpatine overthrowing the Jedi Order until he made the prequel trilogy a few decades later. If Lucas had started with Episode i in the 70s, he may have chosen these icons of the new Hollywood era.
ten Marlon Brando as Palpatine
Marlon Brando’s collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola made him a bigger star than ever in the 1970s, and he would have been perfect for the role of Palpatine in the Star wars prequel trilogy. He skillfully conveyed a sense of hard-earned power as Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
Palpatine’s role required switching between an infamous Sith Lord and his facade of a friendly politician. Brando played a nasty villain in Apocalypse now and a wise father figure in Superman, and he could have combined the dimensions of these performances to embody the future emperor.
9 Bruce Lee as Darth Maul
George Lucas took on the challenge of following Darth Vader with a new villain by creating a Sith Lord with his own unique fighting style. Besides looking like the devil and saying nothing throughout the film, what made Darth Maul an intimidating presence was his unmatched skills as a martial artist.
In 1999 the role was played by Ray Park, but in the 1970s it could have been played by Bruce Lee. With action-packed vehicles like Fist of fury and Enter the Dragon, Lee started a martial arts movie trend in the 1970s.
8 Harvey Keitel as Obi-Wan Kenobi
In the Martin Scorsese hit in 1973 Middle streetsRobert De Niro played a reckless young gangster and Harvey Keitel played the older sage mentor tasked with keeping him in check. This dynamic is comparable to Anakin and Obi-Wan; an unstable and unbalanced youngster and the colleague who considers him a brother and watches his back in vain. Keitel could have brought real intensity to the role of Obi-Wan.
7 Faye Dunaway as Padmé Amidala
There are a bunch of stars from the 70s who could have played the female lead in the Star wars prequels. Sigourney Weaver broke new ground for female action heroes with her lead role in the 1979s Extraterrestrial. Diane Keaton could have combined the pathos of The Godfather with the awkwardness of Annie hall in the role of Padmé.
Bringing the same fierce conviction that she in turn brought Oscar winner Network, Faye Dunaway could have been a perfect fit for the future mother of Luke and Leia, a monarch who fights on the front lines with his troops.
6 Sean Connery as Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon only appears in the first chapter of the previous trilogy, but he left a lasting impression on Star wars Fans. Had the prequels been made in the ’70s, Sean Connery might have played a middle-aged sage Jedi in the surreal, experimental, post-James Bond, Zardoz period of his career.
George Lucas ended up making Connery a different father figure in a different franchise, namely Indy’s father Henry, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade– and he nailed it.
5 Yaphet Kotto as Mace Windu
No one could replace Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, but he only became a well-known star in the 1990s with roles in Goodfellas, jurassic park, and pulp Fiction. Had the prequels been made in the ’70s, the casting team might have picked Yaphet Kotto for the role.
Kotto was always engaging and likable, whether he played a hero, like Parker in Extraterrestrial-or a villain, like Mr. Big in Live and Let Die– then he could have squeezed the role of Yoda’s stern-faced right arm out of the park.
4 Jack Nicholson as Earl Dooku
The role of Count Dooku requires an actor with a serious threat, but also an actor who can have fun with online deliveries like “twice the pride, double the downfall”. Christopher Lee, of course, succeeded, bringing a lot of pathos to Dooku while also drawing on his hammer-hammered horror sensitivity.
While Lee himself would have played Dooku in the ’70s, the role could have gone to Jack Nicholson. Nicholson made a name for himself playing morally ambiguous roles like Jake Gittes in Chinese district, Buddusky in The last detail, and Randle McMurphy in Flight over a cuckoo’s nest.
3 Andy Kaufman as Jar Jar Binks
Designed as the comedic relief from the previous trilogy, Jar Jar Binks instantly became one of the most polarizing characters in the movie. Star wars universe. Ahmed Best did a fantastic job playing the character as written, and Jar Jar’s target audience of children fell in love with him.
In the 1970s, Lucas might have aimed for a more quirky and ironic portrayal of Jar Jar. The perfect performer for this would have been Andy Kaufman, whose particular brand of anti-comedy entered mainstream audiences with his stint on Taxi in the 70s.
2 Clint Eastwood as Jango Fett
Boba Fett and his father Jango both took inspiration from the frozen and icy anti-heroes of classic spaghetti westerns. Jango is even named after the main character in Sergio Corbucci’s film. Django—but without the silent D. The quintessential spaghetti western anti-hero is Clint Eastwood, who played the mysterious “Man with No Name” in Sergio Leone Dollars trilogy. Eastwood would have made an ideal ’70s Fett.
1 Al Pacino as Anakin Skywalker
In The Godfather trilogy, Al Pacino plays a wayward child with a bright future who is gradually corrupted until his unfortunate circumstances turn him into a ruthless monster. It’s the same kind of tragic arc that Anakin Skywalker follows in the Star wars prequels.
Since The Godfather making Pacino one of the most revered and recognizable actors in the world, Lucas could have referred to him as Anakin to ensure that a ’70s prequel trilogy would be a success.
About the Author
