Roles and actors of "Star Wars"

Star Wars actors have made a dizzying career in film. Now they receive fabulous fees for filming in films. But once they were also "beginners", and some of them - even losers. How did they manage to get into George Lucas's famous film?

"Star Wars. Episode 1: actors. Liam Neeson

In the picture of George Lucas, Liam Neeson played one of the main roles - the character Qui-Gon Jinn. It was Qui-Gon who insisted that the famous Anakin Skywalker become a Jedi, despite the disagreement of the Council. Hero Nison in the 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd episodes of the star saga took a very active part in the fate of the planet Naboo, Skywalker and Princess Amidala.

Actors of "Star Wars" in their bulk were not the stars of the first magnitude before filming in a fantastic film by Lucas. However, Liam Neeson even before the project had the main roles, for example, in the cult film "Schindler's List", as well as in commercially successful films "The Man of Darkness" and "Michael Collins."

"Star Wars" helped the Irishman strengthen his position in Hollywood. It was after his participation in the cult picture of George Lucas Nison opened the doors to the film sets of such celebrities as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan. For his last film "Hostage-3" Liam received a fee of 20 million dollars. Today Neeson is in the top 10 most highly paid Hollywood actors .

Star Wars: actors and roles. Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala

For the first time, Natalie Portman flashed on big screens paired with Jean Reno in Luc Besson's Leon picture. Then the young actress was only 13 years old. However, after "Leon" the girl did not participate in any cash movie until she got into the project of George Lucas.

The Star Wars actors got a chance to break into the "big" movie. And Portman used it 100%. Despite the fact that for the role of Queen Amidala Portman was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Prize, after the participation in the project, Lucas got it right. In 2003, the actress gets a role in the famous film "Cold Mountain", where her partners on the set are Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger. At the box office, the picture earned 173 million dollars with a budget of 79 million.

Then there were shooting in such famous projects as "V - means vendetta", "Ghosts of Goya", "Another of the Boleyn family." Portman received an Oscar for her role in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.

Hayden Christensen as Skywalker

In the second episode of Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker grows up and turns into a charming young man. The role of the boy was entrusted to Canadian film actor Hayden Christensen.

If such Star Wars actors as Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson made their way to the tops of Hollywood, Christensen, despite his beauty, did not make a dizzying acting career. Of course, the young man was filmed all these years in some films, but not a single well-known project in his filmography, except for "Star Wars" and the drama "Narcosis", no.

In 2017, the screens will be followed by the continuation of the "Star Wars", in which Hayden Christensen's participation is planned. Perhaps he will also appear in the 9th episode of the movie. However, the director of these films is no longer George Lucas, but a certain Ryan Johnson, whose filmography to date, there are only three little-known public film.

Harrison Ford as Khan Solo

"Star Wars", the actors and roles of which became known in the past to the whole world, gave American cinema another star - Harrison Ford. The character of Ford - Khan Solo - immediately fell in love with moviegoers: bold, ironic, prone to adventures. "Soldier of Fortune" Han Solo is on the list of "100 best heroes and villains of the American Film Institute". However, the life of Harrison Ford before filming in the star epic can hardly be called a "heroic".

Ford began acting in films since 1966. However, he was haunted by the stigma of a "loser": he did not offer good roles, and in the film "Zabriski Point", in general, all the scenes with the actor's participation were cut out. Then Harrison decided to do something that really brings income, and became ... a carpenter.

Perhaps Ford would still be an ordinary worker to this day, were it not for the case that led him to the set of American Graffiti. Harrison was invited to this film by George Lucas, because the budget was too small, and the director could not hire first-class actors: in fact, thirty-year-old Harrison Ford was filmed for free. But the film unexpectedly was crowned with success and even nominated for an Oscar. Four years later, Harrison Ford - still just an accident - was on the set of "Star Wars", but not as the main actor, but as a reader of offscreen text. Ford's brief remarks in the process of work, his humor and irony led to the fact that all applicants for the role looked pale compared to the "carpenter-reader." The role of Khan Solo went to Harrison and turned it into a Hollywood star of the first magnitude.

Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu

Famous in their time were such participants in the star saga as Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and many others. But the career of these actors has long gone down, while Samuel L. Jackson and to this day remains the star of the first magnitude in Hollywood. In the filmography of the actor - more than 100 works. Of course, one of the best in Jackson's career is the role of the Jedi Mace Windu in the George Lucas film "Star Wars."

The episode, whose actors took in his creative team Samuel, collected in the year of the first release 997 million dollars, and in the year of the re-release - almost 529 million. That's success! Can you guess which film is in question? Of course, it was episode number 1 of the star epic - "The Hidden Menace". It was then that Samuel L. Jackson first appeared in front of the audience as a charismatic Jedi Mace Windu.

After filming in Star Wars, the actor took part in many well-known and commercially successful projects: Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, Frank Miller's Avenger, the films of the Marvel film company Iron Man 2, Tor, The First Avenger etc.

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi

Actors of the movie "Star Wars" subsequently more than once became participants in Hollywood movies-hits. The same can be said of Ewan McGregor, who, after filming in the cult epic epic George Lucas, won major roles in such famous films as "Moulin Rouge", "The Ghost" and "The Black Hawk" directed by Ridley Scott. In 2017, the premiere of the film "Beauty and the Beast" is planned, where the charming Scot MacGregor will play the role of Lumiere.