David Prowse Explained How Sebastian Shaw Got The Role of Dying Darth Vader in STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI

The unmasking of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi ended up being pretty underwhelming for a lot of fans. The mystery of what Darth Vader looked like under that sinister helmet captured the imagination of fans, but then when Anakin Skywalker’s actual face was revealed, it didn’t look anything like what fans built up in their imagination. It was just some regular old guy and his look didn’t live up to expectations.

As you might imagine, David Prowse, the man behind Darth Vader’s mask over the course of the trilogy thought it should’ve been him. Instead, Dying Vader was played by Sebastian Shaw. In a past interview with Rock Cellar Magazine, Prowse was asked about the big plot twist regarding Luke being Darth Vader’s son and he said:

“Yes, I didn’t know I was Luke’s father until I was in Hollywood at the premiere and saw the film.  I remember thinking ‘Wow,  this is quite the switch!’  Like I said, I wasn’t privy to everything going on in the movie, and was disappointed when I learned that the dying Darth Vader would be played by actor Sebastian Shaw. I think the fans were disappointed too, as they hoped to see Dave Prowse when Darth Vader was finally unmasked.”

But, he did actually did spoil the big plot twist two years before Return of the Jedi premiered. He also pissed off George Lucas with the things he was leaking about the film and Prowse said that everyone on the set of the film isolated him following the leak. He also said Lucas refused to talk to him during the last six weeks of production. There is speculation that because of that, Lucas replaced Prowse with actor Sebastian Shaw.

But, in this other interview, Prowse offered another explanation as to why Shaw ended up in the role of dying Vader saying that Sir Alec Guinness called in a favor for his friend. Prowse said:

“What happened there was Sebastian Shaw was a great friend of Sir Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and by chance Shaw was having a bad time of it financially. So Shaw said to Sir Alec Guinness, ‘Do you think you can get in touch with George Lucas and see if he can get me a part in this movie you’re doing?’ And so Alec Guinness asked George, and George said the only thing available is the role of the dying Darth Vader. So that’s how Sebastian Shaw came to do it. And that was all that we saw of him in the film, that tiny little bit.

“Unfortunately, everybody was expecting to see me, and unfortunately for me, they got to see Sebastian Shaw. I would have loved to play that part. And it had nothing to do with any problems they were having with me, or anything like that. It was simply Alec doing his friend a favor and George was doing him a favor, as it were.”

I have no idea if that’s true, but that’s what Prowse said. In the end, the reveal of Darth Vader’s face was a disappointment. I remember my dad referring to the reveal of Vader’s face as “Potato Head” and that’s something that stuck with me since I was a kid. Now, whenever I see the reveal of Vader's face I always associate it with Mr. Potato Head!