COLLECTORMANIA UK EVENT
AT THE OLYMPIA 2 EXHIBITION HALL 28TH
-29TH NOVEMBER 2009
Behind the scenes STAR WARS information from the cast and crew attending
the event. Compiled by Ian Trussler and Scott Weller
Cristina De Silva (right) poses with Friday Wilson as a Handmaiden, alongside Natalie Portman's Queen Amidala. |
CRISTINA DE SILVA- RABE THE HANDMAIDEN-“STAR
WARS: EPISODE ONE- THE PHANTOM MENACE”
Cristina
had been working primarily as a model when she went up for the general casting
for Episode One. She attended an initial casting and then received a
call back for a second before being told she had the part. She did not meet
George Lucas at either of her casting sessions. She very much enjoyed working
on the film despite not being a Star Wars fan before getting the role.
She was surprised when all her friends were telling her what a big deal it was
to get a part in a SW movie. She spent several months working on the movie both
at Leavesden Studios and on location in Italy and enjoyed working with the
other cast members, particularly Hugh Quarshie whom she had many scenes with.
She has remained very friendly with Hugh and he is the only cast member that
she continues to see regularly. A year after she completed filming she was very
surprised to get a call to return to take part in the pick up shooting. This
was when she filmed the scene with a very obviously older looking Jake Lloyd as
Anakin when he comes to say goodbye to Padme. In this scene it is her own voice
we hear-she was not dubbed as they liked her native Brazilian accent. She
recalled being asked to recite the line before filming and particularly being
asked to pronounce "Padme" several times. As far as she is aware she
did not have any of her scenes cut. This was her first ever convention and she is
currently studying for a degree in acting and theatre arts.
Cristina
also recalled the photo shot for the famous shot of her and Friday Wilson
flanking Natalie Portman in her Japanese style gown. The shot took place over a
day at a studio in Watford. This was different to most publicity photo's she
did for the movie as normally she would be grabbed in between takes on set
whilst in costume, to pose for a few ad-hock pics.
BOB KEEN-SPECIAL EFFECTS/ MAKE-UP EFFECTS-ALL
THREE “STAR WARS” ORIGINAL TRILOGY MOVIES
Bob
started work on the original Star Wars straight from school at 16, and
spent most of his time mending Rebel and Imperial helmets when they got damaged
during the Rebel Blockade Runner corridor scenes. He was amazed how badly
damaged they got because the glue they were using was incredibly strong. He had
no idea what he was working on but he had a life long ambition to work in
special effects and this was a start on that career path. For The Empire
Strikes Back he was hired directly by Stuart Freeborn for initially 3 weeks
to work on creature like the Ugnaughts and some work on Yoda. The job
ultimately lasted 11 months. During the Empire shoot he also wore a
Wampa costume for filming at Elstree for the scenes that eventually got cut (I
have a hunch that this was for test footage of the creature, as Terry Richards
played a Wampa in some filmed action sequences also-Editor). After filming
as the Wampa he had a renewed understanding of what costumed actors go through
in terms of heat and discomfort. For Return of the Jedi he was hired by
Robert Watts and told it was to focus specifically on Jabba the Hutt. Along
with a team of guys he helped build and operate the giant puppet. He was
responsible ultimately for performing the radio controlled eyes on set.
GARY KURTZ-PRODUCER-“STAR WARS” AND “THE EMPIRE
STRIKES BACK”
Gary
stated that, contrary to some fan belief, Kenny Baker did not play a Jawa while
out in Tunisia, because most of the Jawa scenes involved R2 so obviously Kenny
was doing R2. Most of the Jawas were local Tunisian children plus his two
daughters, Giles Instone's son and one of Peter Diamond's sons alongside Jack
Purvis. He confirmed that Rusty Goffe did not play a Jawa whilst filming took
place in Tunisia
Before
departing LUCASFILM, Kurtz revealed that he did some early Pre-Production work
on REVENGE OF THE JEDI before story changes led him to pursue work on other
projects like THE DARK CRYSTAL. He also confirmed that he was indeed a
consultant to JEDI in its early stages, too-it was always pre-determined that
JEDI was going to be an even bigger, more ambitious production than EMPIRE.
With
regards to some the Kurtz/Joiner archive images of the Original Trilogy
currently appearing for sale by OFFICIAL PIXS, some 60 to 70 images that Kurtz
himself took for the first two films were already pre-approved for promotional
release when they came out and those are what OP are including. Kurtz has no
ties or relationship to OFFICIALPIX.
He
hasn’t seen THE CLONE WARS animated series yet.
IRENE LAMB- UK CASTING DIRECTOR-“STAR WARS” AND
“THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK”
A
little bit guarded at first, and amazed at having been asked to attend an event
like COLLECTORMANIA, Irene revealed that she worked only on the UK aspects of
the film’s casting with regards to supporting actors and selecting people that
would eventually wear alien masks or Stormtrooper costumes, of which she did
the work in the ten weeks of Pre-Production in the run up to filming-with the
odd exception (Denis Lawson as Wedge, taking over from Colin
Higgins-Editor), no casting took place during shooting. On STAR WARS she
was working on the project all the way through to the films completion, which
she recalled was a lengthy shoot for her. She had no involvement with the US
casting of Ford, Fisher and Hamill at all-they had already been pre-cast. Sir
Alec Guinness’s joining the film meant that any scenes he was involved in
needed experienced actors for him to work opposite-that was a specific
stipulation from the actor. She was on set watching the filming all the time
and it was certainly an unusual movie at that time for her to be involved in.
Being
such a long time ago she couldn’t confirm whether actors like Michael Elphick
or Ken Hutchison appeared in the first movie, but she re-iterated that there
were unknown actors on the set who went onto greater things over time. Many of
the actors used in the first film were American or Canadian-a great many of
which have sadly returned back home since the STAR WARS films were made. She
confirmed that Koo Stark was never tested for Princess Leia though she was
impressed with the actress at the time during filming of the infamous deleted
scenes in 1976.
JAY BENEDICT-DEAK STARKILLER-“STAR WARS”
As
friendly as he was at his previous convention signing appearance, Jay sadly
couldn’t confirm who played the elusive character of Windy in his Tosche
station interior deleted scene (and neither could Irene Lamb when he asked
her). He has been asked the question lots of times. Whoever it was, Benedict
thought that they were wearing a wig for the role!
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