Samuel L. Jackson: Star Wars was a dream come true

Samuel L. Jackson
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Dreams of comic-book heroics fuelled Samuel L. Jackson's desire for a part in George Lucas's "Star Wars" epic.

"I used to sit in the theatre and wonder who was auditioning people, where were they holding the auditions and how could I get in it," Jackson told Reuters on Saturday, the eve of the world premiere of the sixth and final "Star Wars" episode.

"It's always part of that comic-book world that I grew up reading and wishing I could be in," he added, as the Cannes film festival braced for a flood of Lucas publicity on Sunday.

The movie, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith", is set for its global premiere in the French Riviera resort, with an ocean liner booked to host Lucas and the world's media for one of the most heavily hyped releases in recent years.

The first five films have taken well over $3.5 billion at the box office and a further $9 billion in official merchandise sales.

Jackson believes Sith is a key part of the series, because it explains how Anakin Skywalker turns from Jedi Knight to evil warlord Darth Vader.

"I think these (last) three films are about the evolution of who we know as Darth Vader, and I guess now looking back on the other films you also have a different view of who he is," said Jackson, wearing a white flat cap and dark sunglasses.

"We used to see him as just pure evil, because we didn't know that much about him. Now we know how he got to this particular place, so he seems more the tragic figure than an evil figure now."

For Natalie Portman, the actress who plays the queen- turned-politician in the latest Star Wars trilogy, saying farewell to the films will be a bittersweet moment.

"It's been an amazing sort of phase of my life," she told Reuters. "You're leaving it behind and ... you don't have another chance to go back and do it again."

Portman's hair will raise eyebrows when she hits the publicity trail on Sunday, without her flowing black locks.

"I'm shooting a film called 'V for Vendetta' right now in Berlin, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, and in this story I'm imprisoned by a totalitarian government and my head is shaved," she explained.

Apart from the Lucas creation, Portman has other interests in Cannes: a second film in which she stars, Israeli director Amos Gitai's "Free Zone", is one of 21 movies competing for the coveted Palme d'Or prize.

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