THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: AN UNEXPECTED BATTLE ZONE!

From their supposedly safe domain in the Royal Palace, the villainous leaders of the Trade Federation in Rune Haako and Nute Gunray, along with the recently arrived Darth Maul, watch the communication screen with surprise as Queen Amidala herself leads a commando style attack on Theed City.

Early work sculpting the face of Rune Haako.

Nute Gunray unmasked! Note the headgear protection during filming breaks.

"While on set I used my own voice, which I adapted to sound like an old man (as Ki-Adi Mundi). George said we could use that, rather than record over it. At that point everyone realized that I was quite versatile (as a voice actor) and asked me later, much later when they were doing the post-production work on The Phantom Menace, if I would do the voice work for Nute Gunray as well.

The application of the prosthetic faces for both characters (Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi Mundi) is quite different. For Nute Gunray it was kind of like wearing a helmet, because it went over my whole head. Throughout the three films (the crew) was able to adapt and change the technology for the mask as the ability to do so improved. They would simply fit it over my head, pull the skin over the mask, and then wire up all the mechanics for the face to move on. It was a simple application that took about 15 to 20 minutes. It wasn't very comfortable to wear as I was actually inside something."

Silas Carson - Star Wars Insider magazine - 2006