Sport & Entertainment
USA | Sep 27, 2022

The man behind the voice: James Earl Jones has officially retired from voicing Darth Vader

Mikala Johnson

Mikala Johnson / Our Today

Reading Time: 2 minutes

James Earl Jones, the enigmatic voice behind Darth Vader, has retired from voicing one of his most iconic characters.

Jones has been the voice behind the Star War character Darth Vader for over 40 years.

But fans of the franchise need not worry as, upon retiring, Jones announced that he has signed over the rights to his archival voice, so that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to recreate his voice in future projects.

The 91-year-old wanted to retire but also wanted to make sure that Darth Vader stayed alive for future generations, even after he was gone.

He started voicing the character at the beginning of the films in 1977 and has continued voicing Darth Vader in the recent Disney+ series.

Jones has been actively working with Lucasfilm and Ukrainian Company Respeecher on using AI to take his Darth Vader voice and keep it alive through machine learning, according to a Vanity Fair report.

Respeecher’s tech was used in the Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi to help re-create Jones’ Darth Vader voice and in The Book of Boba Fett to re-create a young Luke Skywalker’s voice.

The Vanity Fair report’s interview with Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound, also revealed that Jones provided important guidance in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

As Disney continues to expand its Star Wars entertainment portfolio, it’s turning to technology to keep characters alive for a new generation of audiences as the actors age or pass away.

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