Watto's Actor Stole Top-Secret Star Wars Info From The Phantom Menace Set
The "Star Wars" prequels bring up a lot of things for people. Some grew up with the original trilogy and didn't love the backstory for Darth Vader. Others saw their first "Star Wars" film with "The Phantom Menace" and fell in love with the franchise because of it. Whatever side you fall on, or even if you rest somewhere in the middle, there are a few parts of the prequels that are largely considered problematic. Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best was bullied to an insane degree, though he did return as Jedi Kelleran Beq in "The Mandalorian" season 3 to much admiration. Then there is Watto (Andrew Secombe), the Toydarian who ran a second-hand shop in Mos Espa on Tatooine, and forced the enslaved Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August) and her son Anakin (Jake Lloyd) to work for him.
The character has been accused of perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and while I won't go into that here, there is at least one nice story about Watto. (There aren't a lot. I mean, he "won" and "lost" actual humans in a bet over podracing.) This story is about the actor who played the role, and the top-secret item he took from the set of "The Phantom Menace," according to an interview Secombe did with the Cambridge University Star Wars Society in 2020.
'George doesn't shout or get rattled'
Watto had an awful lot of fascinating things in his Mos Espa shop, so there would have been a ton of props to grab if you were so inclined. Who would have noticed a little doodad here or there? (The crew, that's who.) Of course, that wasn't what Andrew Secombe took. It certainly wasn't a costume, as Watto is CGI. As it turns out, this item contained way more spoilers than a piece of clothing or a prop. It was the script. Secombe was asked in the interview about the secretive working environment. He said:
"All the scripts were numbered and you were supposed to give them back after shooting (I didn't, but don't tell George [Lucas]!).
"You have to remember that this was made in the days before the ubiquitous smartphone, so nobody, except the official photographer had a camera in their pocket. The working environment was pretty relaxed — George doesn't shout or get rattled and that filters down. It was one of the most peaceful shoots I've ever been on."
What he says about George Lucas is lovely and I'm very glad to hear it, but you walked out with the script? Most impressive. Not that it matters in terms of "Phantom Menace" secrecy in 2023, but that's a pretty big one. It certainly would have been easier back then. Perhaps some of you don't remember a time before camera phones, but oh, it was a peaceful time, to use one of Secombe's words.
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