Perhaps you can name every system of planets in the galaxy or explain the “Who shot first?” debate, but I’m willing to bet there are a few bits of trivia from the Star Wars movies that fell down the garbage chute for you. In fact, I have compiled some of the most shocking, intriguing, or just downright ridiculous lesser-known facts about the franchise – which is still ongoing with upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows on the horizon – here. Read through them and we shall see who the trivia master is.
Luke Skywalker Was Almost A Girl
The release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens saw the epic sci-fi saga led by a female Jedi (Daisy Ridley’s Rey) as the central hero for the first time. However, that was almost the case for the film that started it all.
According to Salon, back in 1975 when Star Wars was still referred to as The Adventures of Starkiller, George Lucas found his second draft of the screenplay to be overcrowded with male characters. With the feminist movement on the rise, Lucas decided to apply a feminine touch to the story by rewriting his protagonist, then called Luke Starkiller, as an 18-year-old woman. That gender swap lasted just a few months until Princess Leia was reincorporated into the preceding draft.
The Iconic Lightsaber Hum Was Created By Accident
The lightsaber has such a brilliantly distinct hum that no young Star Wars fan can resist replicating it during Jedi playtime with friends. Surprisingly, the design of the weapon’s signature sound was purely by mistake. Ben Burtt, the sound designer for most of the Star Wars movies, revealed in an interview found on a laserdisc box set for the original trilogy (via FilmSound.org) that, while he had an idea of how the lightsaber should sound, the actual hum did not come to him until the moment he describes here:
I was carrying a microphone across the room... when the microphone passed a television set which was on the floor, which was on at the time without the sound turned up, but the microphone passed right behind the picture tube and, as it did, [it] produced an unusual hum... That was a great buzz, actually. So, I took that buzz and recorded it and combined it with the projector motor sound and that 50/50 kind of combination of those two sounds became the basic lightsaber tone.
Burtt would later experiment with waving a microphone in front of a speaker playing his new found lightsaber sound to figure out the sound of the weapon’s movement. All it took was a little accidental signal interference to complete the design of one of the most iconic and beloved props in cinematic history.
George Lucas Actually Lost Money Over Star Wars… To Steven Spielberg
These days, a Star Wars movie ruling the box office is a pretty safe bet, but someone who did not believe that at one time was the saga’s own creator, George Lucas. With his friend, Steven Spielberg, having just recently directed the highest grossing film of all time (Jaws), Lucas was positive his next film, the alien invasion movie classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was going to be a bigger hit in 1977. The pair put this concept to the test and agreed that if Close Encounters made more money, Lucas would receive 2.5 points from Spielberg’s stake in the film, but if Star Wars became the victor, Spielberg would get the same amount of Lucas’ stake.
While Close Encounters was a surefire hit, grossing around $340 million worldwide, Star Wars earned more than double the earnings about $800 million. Decades later, this bet has cost Lucas millions that have gone straight into Spielberg’s pocket.
Liam Neeson Was Too Big For Star Wars... Literally
While the Star Wars movies are, undeniably, a larger than life franchise, it proved too small for one of its actors. By “too small,” we mean the sets.
According to CBS News, when Liam Neeson joined the cast of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, the production’s live action sets had already been built, failing to accommodate the Irish actor’s 6’4” stature. Thus, an additional $150,000 was spent to rebuild the sets and keep Qui-gon Jin from bumping his head on every archway he passed through.
Carrie Fisher’s Dog Appears In The Last Jedi
Chewbacca was not the only trusted, furry companion on the set of 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Eagle-eyed viewers were able to notice that Carrie Fisher’s pet French bulldog, Gary Fisher, whom she took almost everywhere she went, makes a cameo.
The brief, discreet appearance occurs during the sequence taking place at Canto Bight, where Gary can be seen right past Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico, lightly disguised as an alien creature and being held by another, anthropomorphic alien. The cameo was confirmed by director Rian Johnson in a tweet (via Vulture) in response to a fan tweeting a screenshot of the Easter Egg.
The Jar Jar Hate Was Harder On The Actor Than You May Realize
The Star Wars prequels are considered by many as the black sheep of the franchise. One actor, whose character receives a lot of blame for the drop in quality, took the backlash more personally than the typical fanboy troll in 1999 may have realized.
Two decades after the release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar Jar Binks, acknowledged in a video for Participant the backlash his infamous role received and how he almost took his own life over it. I think we can all agree that no movie role is worth contemplating suicide over, but no character is worth throwing abuse at the actor hired to play them either.
The Ewoks' Odd Connection To The Band Toto
One of the most definitive aspects of the Star Wars movies is John Williams’ exhilarating score. The legendary composer enlisted his son, Joseph Williams, to contribute to the saga’s musical legacy by writing the English lyrics to the Ewoks’ victory song heard at the end of Return of the Jedi.
You might also recognize Joseph Williams from his endurable 1982 hit “Africa.” That’s right: one of the writers of the Ewoks’ victory song is the lead singer of ‘80s rock band, Toto.
A Certain Boy Band Almost Claimed Star Wars Fame, Too
You think that the guy who wrote “Africa” writing lyricsc for the Ewoks is weird? How about the guys who sang “Bye, Bye, Bye” making a Star Wars cameo. By the request of his daughter, George Lucas filmed the members of pop music sensation *NSYNC for a scene in 2002’s Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Before you pop in your dusty DVD copy or just log in to your Disney+ subscription to spot where Justin Timberlake shows up, I assure you that your search will come up short. According to Tech Times, just a few months before the release of the second Star Wars prequel, Lucas teased that *NSYNC would make an appearance… and was immediately met with vapid backlash from fans. The director removed the cameo from the final cut before it hit theaters, and the rest is history.
A Terminally Ill Fan Was Able To See The Force Awakens Before He Passed
The 2009 comedy Fanboys takes place in 1998 and follows a group of Star Wars obsessives vying to make sure their friend gets to see a rough cut of the upcoming The Phantom Menace before he succumbs to his cancer. Intriguingly, life would imitate this slice of art during the lead-up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.
As The Guardian recalls, an online campaign was launched that year to convince Disney and LucasFilm to grant Daniel Fleetwood his dying wish to see the long-awaited seventh installment of his all-time favorite franchise before he passed from spindle cell sarcoma. After receiving support from many, including Mark Hamill and John Boyega, the campaign proved successful and, after seeing The Force Awakens, Fleetwood died at the age of 32.
You Won’t Find (The Actor Who Plays) Darth Vader At Any Star Wars Events
Lucas has proven himself to be a committed follower to the light side of the Force, and so much so that he officially blacklisted Darth Vader himself. Not James Earl Jones, who provided the voice of the Sith lord, but the actor who shared the iconic Star Wars role with him by wearing the suit, David Prowse.
In 2010, at 75 years old, Prowse announced on his official website (via Daily News) that Lucas had banned him from attending any future official events related to the saga, including fan conventions or cast reunions. This stems from reports that the Star Wars creator was annoyed by the numerous arguments he had with the actor over issues like replacing Prowse’s voice with Jones or Lucas accusing the actor of trying to sabotage the reveal that Vader was Luke’s father before the release of The Empire Strikes Back.
Christopher Walken Could Have Played Han Solo
It is hard to imagine anyone else playing lone outlaw-turned-resistance fighter Han Solo than the incomparable Harrison Ford. It is even harder to imagine someone like, say, Christopher Walken bringing the iconic Star Wars role to life. Yet, it almost happened.
As the Academy Award winner confirmed when speaking to Conan O’Brien, he was considered for the role of Han Solo. Of course, then-carpenter Ford, having worked with Lucas once before in 1973's American Graffiti, landed the role, but it is still a fun idea to imagine the Star Wars movies with Walken’s signature drawl.
Billie Lourd Played Leia In A Rise Of Skywalker Flashback Sequence
The final installment of the sequel trilogy was also a family affair for the Fisher household. In addition to reprising her role as Lt. Connix in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Carrie Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, also had the honor of portraying her mother’s iconic role: Leia Organa.
For a scene in which a younger Luke Skywalker (played once again by Mark Hamill) provides Jedi training to his sister, director J.J. Abrams asked Lourd to stand in for Fisher as the younger Leia. According to Yahoo!, the mere seconds of screentime was achieved by digital imposing Fisher’s face onto Lourd’s body.
Yoda Was Almost Not A Puppet
Maybe you prefer the Star Wars prequels’ CGI recreation of Jedi master Yoda over the original trilogy’s puppeteering. According to The Wrap, it could have been a lot weirder.
Before Frank Oz was brought on as the voice and one of the puppeteers for Yoda, the filmmakers considered using a trained monkey in a green mask for the role. That was until one of the crew members, who had previously worked with monkeys on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey, assured the filmmakers, “Look, the monkey’s just going to pull off the mask over and over again. It’s never going to work.”
So, are these the lesser known Star Wars facts you were looking for? Were we the first to shoot off these incredible bits of trivia, or did you reply to each entry with a resounding, “I know”?
