That Famous 'Star Wars' Stormtrooper Blooper Is Finally Explained [Trivia]

There are mistakes in every single major motion picture ever made. Sometimes it's something as small as a continuity error, like the position of a pen on a desk. Other times it's something glaring, like a Stormtrooper banging their head on a blast door inside the Death Star for everyone to notice.

That's right, in case you haven't ever seen it, there's a blooper in the original Star Wars (which celebrated its 40th anniversary yesterday) where one Stormtrooper hits their head on a blast door as they enter a room in the Death Star while looking for the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. It's a pretty big mistake to end up in a movie, and now we finally have an explanation as to why it happened from the clumsy Stormtrooper himself.

Find out more about the Star Wars Stormtrooper blooper after the jump.

For those who may not know what we're talking about, keep an eye on the far right Stormtrooper:

Somehow that take made it into the movie, and now the actor who played the Stormtrooper, a man from the United Kingdom by the name of Laurie Goode, has explained just what happened to The Hollywood Reporter:

"On the second day of filming, I developed an upset stomach. By midmorning I had paid three to four visits to the loo/bathroom. Having re-dressed myself and returned to the set, I felt the need to rush back to the gents' toilets, but I was placed in [the] shot. On about the fourth take, as I shuffled along, I felt my stomach rumbling, and "bang," I hit my head! As I wasn't moving too fast, it was more of a scuffed bash, so it didn't hurt, but as no one shouted "cut," I thought the shot wasn't wide enough for me to be in frame."

But how was there not another take that could have been used for this scene? Sure, Star Wars had a small budget at the time, which makes its achievements in special effects all the more impressive, but there wasn't a better take to put into the movie? Goode explains how the takes went for that particular scene:

"I remember after the first two takes, we were told to hold our guns in our left hands as opposed to our right. So I believe the head bang happened on the fourth take — whatever number of takes we did, the head bang happened on the last take. When it first happened, that day I told my fellow actor on the film, Mark Kirby, that I hit my head, but we didn't go for another take."

You might have heard about another man named Michael Leader claiming to be the Stormtrooper from that scene, but he has since died, and Goode claims that his story isn't true. Supposedly there have been more than a few people claiming to be this infamous Stormtrooper, so many that there's even an Indiegogo campaign that is looking for funds to support a documentary to find out who the real man behind the mask is:

Frankly, my biggest question is if George Lucas spent millions of dollars adding visual effects to Star Wars, why didn't he fix that scene? Presumably it's because it's kind of a legendary moment in the movie now, but that didn't stop him from messing with much more important parts of Star Wars, like the cantina meeting between Han Solo and Greedo, or inserting Hayden Christensen into Return of the Jedi. For crying out loud there's even a sound effect when his head hits the door.

Anyway, for now we'll have to take Laurie Goode at his word, at least until someone comes up with a better story.