James Earl Jones' Legacy: The Future of Darth Vader's Voice

Why the passing of James Earl Jones doesn't mean you won't hear Darth Vader's voice again

Jones approved an AI voice clone that Disney could use forever James Earl Jones sadly passed away this week at 93, leaving an amazing legacy as an actor. His iconic voice lent gravitas to the CNN tag, Mufasa in The Lion King, and, most famously, Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise. But, thanks to some foresight by Jones and Star Wars owner Disney, his voice could very well return in future projects performing all-new lines. Though Jones is credited with Darth Vader's voice from the original Star Wars in 1977 until now, his interest in stepping back from working led to some AI assistance in his most recent Vader performance in the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series. Disney unsurprisingly wanted to make sure Darth Vader sounded like Jones in the show. So, the company worked with Jones and Ukrainian AI voice company Respeecher to turn samples of Jones' past performances into a voice clone that could recreate how he sounded but read from a new script. It's similar to how Respeecher replicated the voice of video game actor Miłogost Reczek for Cyberpunk 2077. Deepfaking celebrity voices has rapidly become popular as the technology has improved and the price has fallen. Jones was one of the first actors of his stature to actually work out a contract for how and when his AI voice clone could be used, even after he passed away. Deciding to pursue the option at all took some time, according to reporting at the time. Disney and Lucasfilm wanted vocal consistency but knew it could alienate fans if they felt Jones wasn't okay with it. In the end, Jones' AI voice replica sounded nearly indistinguishable from him in the 1970s, though the distorted Vader voice may have smoothed over any bumps. Many actors worry that AI will eventually render human performances obsolete, especially in industries like video games, where voice actors are already facing significant challenges. This was a question during both the screen actors' strike and the video game voice actors' strike that followed. In both cases, actors demanded stronger protections against AI replication of their performances. In Jones' case, the actor gave explicit approval for his voice to be used in perpetuity through AI, but not every performer has his clout with the production companies. It's not just Respeecher offering AI voice clones of celebrities. ElevenLabs recently debuted AI versions of the voices of James Dean, Burt Reynolds, Judy Garland, and Sir Laurence Olivier for its Reader App. As with Jones, the company got permission to do so, in this case, from the estates of the actors. But, as Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson can attest, not everyone asks before making an AI clone. With James Earl Jones, what matters most may be if fans feel the connection to Darth Vader when the role is performed by his AI duplicate that so many have felt when hearing the actor speak the lines. A brief speech is one thing, but a starring role for the AI voice of Jones might not go down as well. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

James Earl Jones' Death Spurs Questions About His 'Star Wars' Future

With the late actor having previously signed over rights to his archival voice work for 'Obi Wan-Kenobi,' experts tell The Hollywood Reporter that the landscape for such deals continues to evolve. James Earl Jones' iconic voice was among his many gifts as a performer. With the actor having died this week at 93, it remains to be seen whether that voice could appear in new projects, particularly from the Star Wars franchise. One of Jones' signature roles was providing the voice of Darth Vader, which he originated in 1977's Star Wars and continued throughout the initial trilogy before reprising the character in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Although Jones was not involved in the 2022 Disney+ series Obi Wan-Kenobi, his voice was used, with Skywalker Sound editor Matthew Wood telling Vanity Fair at the time that the actor had quietly retired from the role but signed over rights to his archival voice work. Jones made the deal with Ukrainian startup Respeecher, which used AI to cull through audio from his early Darth Vader projects and create new lines of dialogue with the younger-sounding voice. Wood told the publication that Jones was akin to a "benevolent godfather" in working with the show's team to offer guidance with the new dialogue for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Following Jones' death on Monday, industry analysts are watching to see whether his voice will resurface, either in the Star Wars world or other projects, given that he is also known for voicing Mufasa in the Lion King franchise. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Lucasfilm and Disney representatives for clarity on whether Jones agreed for his voice to be used posthumously for Star Wars. For the upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King, which voice stars Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Jones' voice is not expected to be heard. "A lot is going to depend on what sort of contracts the performer entered into during their lifetime," Mary LaFrance, professor of intellectual property law at UNLV, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "If they authorized certain digital replicas of their voice or likeness, what are the details of those contracts? Could those contracts still be in effect for additional works that might be created postmortem?" Last month, SAG-AFTRA was among the organizations lauding the California state Senate for passing law AB 1836, requiring consent to use digital replicas of deceased performers. The language is similar to that included by the union in its contract agreement signed last year following the actors strike. In March, Tennessee became the first state to enact legislation aimed at protecting musicians from unauthorized voice use through AI and deepfakes with the ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security). The use of deceased performers in films, particularly in later installments of long-running franchises, remains a topic of debate as AI technology evolves. Released last month, Alien: Romulus used the likeness of late actor Ian Holm, who played the android Ash in the 1979 original Alien. 20th Century Studios used animatronics, CGI and AI to bring to life a different android named Rook. The estate of Holm, who died in 2020, gave permission and told THR in a statement, "We loved being there and are pleased that [Fox is] bringing both Alien and lan to another generation." The Star Wars franchise broke ground when it incorporated the character Grand Moff Tarkin into Rogue One. The film digitally resurrected original Star Wars actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994. Currently, Lucasfilm parent company Disney is embroiled in a legal battle with the U.K.-based company Tyburn Film Productions, which says that Cushing agreed that his likeness could only be re-created using special effects with the company's permission. Disney stated it entered into an agreement with Cushing's estate, but a judge ruled this month that it would go to trial. "You just get permission, and everything's OK," says cinematographer Eric Adkins, who worked on 2004's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which used computer manipulation of Laurence Olivier's archival footage to create a new role for the legendary actor, who died in 1989. Adkins recalls one of the film's stars meeting with Olivier's widow to explain the vision: "[Given] today's world, where everyone's worried about owning likeness for AI, we got permission from the estate by having Jude Law go to Lawrence Olivier's wife and sweet-talk this into happening." Hitting theaters in December is Mufasa: The Lion King, director Barry Jenkins' prequel feature for Disney that tells the origin story of Mufasa, voiced by Jones in the original 1994 Lion King animated film and in 2019's photorealistic remake. Jones' voice is not expected to be included in this year's movie. His voice will still be used as part of the University of Michigan video that has played at the start of every home football game since it debuted in 2015. Jones, who earned a drama degree from the university, delivers a stirring two-minute monologue about school pride that will continue to run unchanged. The recent laws being enacted are crucial to helping performers navigate this changing landscape, according to Kevin J. Greene, a professor of copyright and entertainment law at Southwestern Law School. He encourages performers to be careful with details in contracts for voice and likeness rights, given his sense that there may be a current lack of protection or insulation to guarantee how these deals are carried out. "I have no objection to end-of-life people saying, 'Yeah, I'd like to give my family some money,'" Greene says. "I'm more concerned about people who still have a long lifespan and may not realize that they are conveying rights that they will later regret."