If anyone can make the Dark Side sound good, it’s James Earl Jones. The actor, died on Monday At 93, he provided a voice for Darth Vader for more than a dozen Star Wars properties, words A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound ominous in a compelling way. With his departure, it feels like all the power, gravitas, and respect he brought to the character is gone.
No. It’s in the hands of AI.
A few years ago, when Jones provided a few lines as Vader for The Rise of SkywalkerHe has expressed interest in ending his time as a Sith Lord, according to Vanity Fair magazine. Lucasfilm, needing a way to continue the character—and specifically, continue to have a version of the character’s voice as it did in the early Star Wars films—turned to a Ukrainian company called Respeecher, which used artificial intelligence to recreate Vader’s voice based on Jones’ previous performances. (The actor signed on to use its archive to train the voice model.)
Finally, Respeecher’s work was completed against the backdrop of the Russian invasion. Ukraineend at Obi Wan Kenobiand if so, Vader’s future performance may depend on its AI. (Representative of Speaker and Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.)
Jones’ departure marks a pivotal moment in the future of AI-generated performances. Over the past year Hollywood actors strikeOne of the biggest sticking points between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, and the studios was whether studios needed permission to use a previous performance to train AI models. Ultimately, SAG won protections around using AI to recreate performances. Now the question is: How will that play out with Darth Vader?
This is a particularly interesting question when it comes to voice acting. Full vocal reproductions may feel more advanced than full performance reproductions, but they also feel more profound.
When Paul McCartney using AI to help create a Beatles song from recordings made when the Fab Four were still alive, the results were haunting. When OpenAI released a demo of its voice assistant Sky, Scarlett Johansson believed it sounded a lot like the voice she used in Sheshe hasshocked, angry and in disbelief” that the company “will pursue a voice that sounds very much like mine.” OpenAI denies she was the inspiration but has stopped the demo. Video game voice actors are currently on strike to protect their voice performances. It seems like voices are at their highest value right now.
Ultimately, what happens to Darth Vader’s voice isn’t really a matter of rights—Jones granted his permission—but rather a matter of emotion. Will Lucasfilm, or parent company Disney, want to produce future Star Wars shows or movies featuring the AI Vader after Jones’ death? Will people respond positively to them? With a character as iconic as Vader, shouldn’t there be a point at which fans let go?
From Audrey Hepburn sells Dove chocolates ARRIVE Tupac hologramPosthumous performances have been a part of popular culture for years. But unlike Audrey and Pac, Jones is in on the plan; he appears to be the first celebrity to allow his iconic presence to be recreated by AI before his death. What may determine how successful the AI Vader will be is how it’s handled. A Darth Vader feature film might not be as well-received as, say, a Force ghost cameo or a flashback. It will be a test to see how the character is received now that the man behind it is gone.
