This actor earned $95 million for 20-minute position however hated his ‘uninteresting work’ in ‘garbage’ movie, nearly rejected sequel | Hollywood
Think about a $95-million paycheck for what quantities to only a few days of labor in a movie, translating to solely 20 minutes of display screen time. Most actors would give an arm and a leg for such a gig. However nearly 50 years in the past, when one man acquired this, he was so turned off by the movie that he nearly rejected the sequel and got here again just for the director’s sake. That is the story of a thespian who grew to become a reluctant popular culture icon.
The actor who earned $95 million for a 20-minute position
By the mid-Nineteen Seventies, British actor Alec Guinness was a revered title in Hollywood and the UK. He had made a reputation for himself with acclaimed movies like Sort Hearts and Coronets, The Man within the White Swimsuit, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Nice Expectations. He gained the Oscar for Finest Actor for Bridge on the River Kwai and later appeared in Lawrence of Arabia and Physician Zhivago. Years after this, George Lucas contacted him to play a Merlin-like mentor character in an area opera he was making. He was supplied $150,000 for the position however the actor demanded twice that, together with 2% of the backend grosses. Director George Lucas threw in one other .25% as a goodwill gesture.
The movie was Star Wars, and the position was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though the character appeared for less than 20 minutes within the movie, it grew to become a popular culture phenomenon, ultimately turning into the position the Oscar winner can be recognized for. The profit-sharing settlement turned out to be a recreation changer for Guinness, because the franchise earned a number of billion over the subsequent 5 many years, incomes Guinness a staggering $95 million by his dying in 2000.
Why Alec Guinness did not like Star Wars initially
In line with The Hollywood Reporter, Alec Guinness was not bought on Star Wars when he first learn the script and solely agreed to do the movie due to the cash. Privately, he had dismissed the script to buddies as “fairy story garbage”, and was satisfied he didn’t need to return to the character once more. Later, he wrote in his diary that engaged on the movie was ‘uninteresting rubbishy stuff’.
Nonetheless, as soon as the movie succeeded, the actor felt that he owed it to George Lucas to return and let him full his character’s arc. “I mentioned sure to a day’s work on Star Wars II … It’s uninteresting rubbishy stuff however, seeing what I owe to George Lucas, I lastly hadn’t had the center to refuse,” Guinness wrote every week after agreeing to behave in The Empire Strikes Again in 1979. His character, Obi-Wan, was killed within the movie. It was later revived within the prequel trilogy and performed by Ewan McGregor. Obi-wan ultimately starred in his personal internet sequence, titled Kenobi, which premiered on Disney+ this 12 months with Ewan McGregor returning to the position. Funnily sufficient, Alec Guinness earned extra for his 20-minute look over two motion pictures than McGregor did over three movies and a sequence.
