James Earl Jones, fueled by his passion for acting, chose a $7,000 paycheck over a profit-sharing offer from director George Lucas for voicing Darth Vader in “Star Wars: Episode IV” back in 1977. At the time, it was simply a special effects gig for Jones, who reportedly spent just two and a half hours recording the iconic lines, according to Radar.
Tracking the Dollars
The $7,000 gig to voice Darth Vader, the iconic Sith lord, whose appearance and distinctive speech delivery by the late actor are well-known, could have made Jones much richer in his lifetime had he opted for a profit-sharing deal as that first film ultimately raked in $775 million worldwide.
Jones provided the iconic voice of Darth Vader in a total of six “Star Wars” films: “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977), “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (1983), “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005) – a brief uncredited voice role, “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” (2015) – archival audio, and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016)
Additionally, his voice was used in various “Star Wars” television shows and media, including “Star Wars Rebels.”
It has not been reported how much he made in total for voicing Darth Vader, but he did build a fortune throughout his career that spanned Broadway to Hollywood.
Fortune Magazine noted that Jones, who passed away on September 9, amassed a net worth of $40 million throughout his career, earning numerous prestigious awards, including two Emmys, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards.
His other roles included performances in “The Lion King” and “Field of Dreams,” and numerous Broadway roles such as “Othello” and “Fences.”
Still, his voicing of Darth Vader has attracted generations.
The Star Wars franchise has generated more than $70 billion in revenue since its inception: box office sales, merchandise, video games, and other media, according to LinkedIn.
Darth Vader, as one of the franchise’s most recognizable characters, has significantly contributed to this financial success through various merchandise sales, appearances in films, and spin-offs.
In an AFI interview cited by Business Insider, Jones said, “I lucked out from all these so-called handicaps for a job that paid $7,000! And I thought that was good money. And I got to be a voice on a movie.”
Vader, whose lines amounted to only 485 words in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, did not expect his character to be a massive hit.
At the time, neither he nor Lucas knew exactly what made the character’s voice work so well in the movie.
In the sequel, “The Empire Strikes Back,” Lucas wanted Jones to voice the villain the same way he did before, aiming to recreate the same level of success.
“He said, ‘We don’t know what we did right, so let’s just try what we did.’ Naturally, I wanted to make Darth Vader more interesting, more subtle, more psychologically oriented,” Jones said.
“And he said, ‘No, no. What we’re finding out is you need to keep his voice on a very narrow band of inflection because he ain’t human, really.'”