James Earl Jones has stepped back from actively voicing Darth Vader. Jones has voiced Vader for over four decades. While he might not be actively providing the voice for the role, his voice will continue to be the voice of Darth Vader. Variety is reporting that Jones has signed over the rights to use his voice for the role with AI moving forward.
The technology comes from a company in Ukraine called Respeecher. This company utilizes AI to reproduce Jones’ voice in new productions, most recently in Obi-Wan Kenobi. This particular company can do so in a way that has a more realistic and human touch to the finished product. This has been done while war rages on outside. Through these challenges, Respeecher recreated the voice of Darth Vader that the galaxy came to fear originally four decades ago.
Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor for the audio coming from Ukraine shared how this point was reached. “He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character,” says Wood. “So how do we move forward?”
Eventually Wood would share Respeecher’s work with James Earl Jones who would sign off on using archival voice recordings to keep Vader alive and vital, even by using artificial means. Jones was still credited for guiding the performance of his voice on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Woods shared that Jones’ contribution was much like a “benevolent godfather.” The team would share their plans for Vader with Jones and then take his advice on how to go down the right path.
James Earl Jones’ voice could first be heard as Darth Vader in 1977’s Star Wars. His voice would then be used for the Sith Lord on both the big screen and small screen for over four decades. His retirement from the role comes as legendary composer and conductor John Williams, who wrote the scores to all of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga films along with some individual character themes, also appears to be retiring from his work on a galaxy far, far away.
James Earl Jones may not be actively voicing the Darth Vader anymore, but through Respeecher’s technology, his voice and the character will continue to move forward and tell new stories with the Sith Lord in them. What do you think about this path forward for the character? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
