Does James Earl Jones Voice Obi-Wan’s Vader? AI Audio Producer Responds
An artificial intelligence audio producer responds to the question of whether James Earl Jones returned to voice Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi. The latest Star Wars television series sees Ewan McGregor reprise his role as the titular hero. Set 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, the timeline allows for characters from both the prequel trilogy, as well as the original trilogy to make an appearance. One such character is Darth Vader, now played by Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi that betrayed his people and joined the evil Emperor as the terrifying dark lord.
With Darth Vader's return to Star Wars, Jones was also needed to lend his voice for new dialogue for the villain. When the Emperor's right hand man was cast for the original 1977 film, David Prowse was hired due to his height and build. However, director George Lucas did not find his voice imposing enough, so he hired Jones to apply his unique manner of speaking to give the character a frightening appeal. However, as the actor is now 91 years old, many have wondered if Jones' voice was applied to the character via artificial means.
Related: Why Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader Rematch Doesn't Break Star Wars Canon
In a recent interview with Inverse, audio producer and Ukrainian tech company Respeecher founder, Alex Serdiuk, discussed how their AI speech synthesizing technology was used in Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the credits of episode 3, Respeecher is listed among the credits. Coincidentally, that episode is the first in which Darth Vader properly appears in the show. When asked about what work the Ukrainian company did on the show, the Serdiuk remained coy about their involvement. Read what the audio producer said
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