James Earl Jones was paid just $7,000 for his Darth Vader role
Star Wars actor James Earl Jones amassed a net worth of $40 million.
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00:00Voice actor James Earl Jones was widely recognized for his roles in The Lion King,
00:04Field of Dreams, and Star Wars, earning himself two Emmys, a Golden Globe, Grammy,
00:08and two Tony Awards. But the actor's success did not come overnight. Jones was paid just $7,000
00:13to voice Darth Vader, who was physically played by David Prowse, in the first Star Wars film in 1977.
00:19The role of Vader took one day to record for the first Star Wars film, but Jones was not
00:23credited in the franchise's first two movies. Instead, his name first appeared in 1983's
00:28Star Wars Return of the Jedi. By comparison, Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker,
00:33reportedly earned $650,000 for the first Star Wars film, and Harrison Ford reportedly made
00:39$10,000 for his role as Han Solo before his salary ballooned to $500,000 by the third film.
00:44Jones passed away at the age of 93, but his voice will still be remembered not only in popular
00:49culture, but through AI reproductions of his voice since the actor signed over his archive of voicework.