Every Actor Who's Played Darth Vader In Star Wars Movies & TV
Darth Vader is synonymous with "Star Wars." George Lucas dubbing his space-set saga "The Tragedy of Darth Vader" is obvious retroactive thinking, but looking at how much of the story centers around the villain, is he wrong? It's not often that a character can become a mascot and remain scary, either. Yet somehow, the Dark Lord of the Sith pulls it off.
What about the actor behind Vader's distinctive black, armored visage? There's been many over the years, even if you may not be able to place their faces. Vader's face being seen so little adds to his mystique and further cements him as a character beyond any one performer.
Indeed, Vader is usually played by more than one actor in the very same movie; the role has traditionally been divided between the man wearing the costume and the one providing Vader's voice. Across major "Star Wars" film and TV productions, here is every actor who has played Darth Vader, physically or vocally.
James Earl Jones
The actor most associated with Vader is James Earl Jones, who provided the villain's voice in the original "Star Wars" film and then the sequels, "The Empire Strikes Back" (where Vader truly comes into his own as the saga's villain) and "Return of the Jedi" (where he redeems himself). Jones is a baritone and his cavernous voice commands fearful respect, especially when reciting Vader's threatening, sharp-tongued dialogue.
Vader's most remembered lines — "I find your lack of faith disturbing," "You don't know the power of the dark side!", "No, I am your father" — were all first delivered by Jones across this trilogy.
Long considered the irreplaceable voice of Vader, Jones returned to voice the character briefly in "Revenge of the Sith" (when Anakin Skywalker's transformation is complete), the animated series "Star Wars: Rebels", and the spin-off film "Rogue One" (set between the prequel and the original trilogies).
Jones, who turns 93 this year, retired from voicing Vader in 2022. Beforehand, that year's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" employed the company Respeecher to "generate" dialogue based on recordings of Jones. This decision, made rather than hiring a human actor as a worthy successor, encapsulates everything wrong with Hollywood bigwig decision-making.
David Prowse
Jones provided the voice, but the actor who actually wore the Darth Vader costume during the "Star Wars" shoots was the late David Prowse. A 6'6 bodybuilder, Prowse had the right physique to make Vader an enormous physical sight (and threat).
The only problem was that his voice, high pitched with traces of a Scottish accent, didn't fit the character of Vader. Hence, Jones was brought into dub over Prowse (who didn't know about this ahead of time).
However, Jones is complimentary of Prowse's performance, even saying the man is the true actor of Darth Vader while his voice acting is just "special effects." Indeed, whenever Vader menacingly marches through a room, holds out his hand to choke someone with the grip of the Force, or stands tall and proud, that was Prowse. Prowse's physical acting at the climax of "Return of the Jedi," when Vader silently considers whether to choose Luke or the Emperor — ultimately deciding to save his son — is especially marvelous; you can feel the inner turmoil even with the mask blocking an expression from sight.
Sebastian Shaw
"Return of the Jedi" finally showed Vader's face — in the character's last moments. As he lies dying, Vader asks Luke to remove his mask, so he may look on his son "with [his] own eyes." Luke (and the audience with him) sees the truth of his father buried beneath the monster: a fragile, sad old man, scarred by the past and with pale and wrinkled flesh that hadn't felt the warmth of any sun in decades.
The unmasked Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker was not played by Prowse (to the actor's disappointment) but by British actor Sebastian Shaw. Shaw, who was 78 at the time, was a prolific stage actor and acted into his 80s (he passed in 1994).
Shaw's Anakin is only seen for about two minutes, but his brief performance averts the anti-climax that this pivotal unmasking could be. Shaw's friendly face isn't totally hidden beneath the disfiguring make-up; Anakin Skywalker's kind smile and proud gaze, as he finally looks at Luke like a father should, says so much with so little.
Hayden Christensen
Prequel films "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" show a young Anakin Skywalker in his prime, played by Hayden Christensen. At the end of "Revenge of the Sith," a horrifically burned Anakin is sealed inside Vader's armor. While Christensen is a bit shorter than Prowse, the film didn't bring a taller stuntman to fill in; his face may not be visible, but when Vader telekinetically wrecks the lab that rebuilt him and cries out "NO!"? That's Christensen in the suit.
Christensen returned in the Disney+ "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series and got the chance to again wear the Darth Vader suit — this time in action too (the performance was supplemented by stunt performer Tom O'Connell and body double Dmitrious Bistrevsky in wide shots). Since the whole appeal of the show was the return of Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan, it made sense to bring back the actor who played Anakin Skywalker beside him. Plus, Christensen in the suit supports that this is the Anakin who the audience and Obi-Wan know, merely transformed.
Christensen himself (heavily made up with Vader's burn scars) is visible twice; in episode 3 when Vader puts on his armor, and in episode 6. At the end of Obi-Wan and Vader's duel, the former slashes Vader's helmet and Anakin's true face and voice peek out.
Matt Lanter
The animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (set between "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith") did not bring back Christensen to voice Anakin. Instead, actor Matt Lanter was cast. His voice was lower-pitched but more expressive than Christensen's, often sounding simultaneously darker yet more charismatic.
Lanter's Anakin was the one who bonded with Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), the character's retconned-in apprentice. An adult Ahsoka returned in "Star Wars: Rebels," set between the prequel trilogy and the original films. Season 2 is about her coming face-to-face with Darth Vader and learning about her former master's dark fate.
As previously mentioned, Vader is voiced once more by James Earl Jones. However, in the season 2 finale "Twilight of the Apprentice," he and Ahsoka duel and she slices his helmet (wondering where "Obi-Wan Kenobi" got the idea for that?). Anakin's true voice creeps out, and it's Matt Lanter. He gets only two lines in-character as Vader; calling out Ahsoka's name and when she refuses to leave him, he answers, "Then you will die."
Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous
Darth Vader is onscreen for two scenes in 2016's "Rogue One." First, he summons Imperial Officer Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) to his fortress on planet Mustafar and gives him a talking-to. Then, near the film's end, Vader massacres a hallway of Rebels like Jason Vorhees with a lightsaber.
As previously mentioned, James Earl Jones was back for the voice. However, David Prowse was not brought back to wear the suit (he retired in 2017 and passed in 2020). Nor was Christensen brought back, since as LucasFilm President Kathleen Kennedy noted, the part was so minor (plus, in 2016, the majority opinion on the Prequels was still maligning them).
So, instead, Vader (whose face is kept obscured) is played by two physical performers. For the first scene, it was Spencer Wilding in the suit. With a powerful strut and tall leer, Wilding emphasizes how Vader imposes himself on Krennic. For the second, more action-heavy scene, it was stuntman Daniel Naprous in the suit.
Scott Lawrence
The "Star Wars: Jedi" video game series allows players to not just observe the galaxy far, far away, but journey through it. Both games ("Fallen Order" and the sequel "Survivor") feature Darth Vader as a boss battle (well, in "Fallen Order," all the player can do is run away from him).
In these games (where there's no need for a physical actor), Vader is voiced by actor Scott Lawrence. During the 1990s, Lawrence was the go-to vocal double for James Earl Jones in "Star Wars" video games. Even before "Fallen Order," Lawrence had played Vader in more than a dozen games; the first was 1994's "Star Wars: TIE Fighter."
After 2006's "Star Wars: Empire At War," he took a 13-year-long sabbatical from playing Vader that ended in 2019. He first returned for the "Vader Immortal" VR series, followed by "Fallen Order." He also voiced Vader in 2020's "Star Wars: Squadrons."
Lawrence is not an exact double for James Earl Jones, but he sounds close enough and is properly menacing. Frankly, he should be stepping in to fill the void left by Jones' retirement, not Respeecher. But hey, that's why I'm not a Lucasfilm exec.