Do you remember the first time you saw The Empire Strikes Back? If so, you were probably as shocked as David Prowse when it was revealed that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father. After all, the actor who played the Sith Lord had no idea about the plot twist because Star Wars creator George Lucas kept it from Prowse during filming. But why keep it a secret from the man who played Vader in the first place?
In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader dropped one of the most iconic (and commonly misquoted) lines in the Star Wars Universe when he told Luke, "No, I am your father." However, the line was only recorded by voice actor James Earl Jones and was never revealed to Prowse, who was given a completely different dialogue during filming. The reason behind this was that Lucas believed Prowse couldn't be trusted with the twist.
So what happened during filming? Lucas told Empire that Mark Hamill was told everything the night before they shot the iconic scene. He then gave Prowse a bogus line to deliver: "Obi-Wan Kenobi is your father." This resulted in Prowse being just as shocked as the audience when he finally watched Episode V.
In the end, it may have been confusing for Prowse but it worked perfectly for the rest of the film. Let's just say it was a good thing that the secret was kept until the movie hit theaters in 1980.
The Empire Strikes Back premiered on May 21, 1980 and has just celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Related: Star Wars: Ben Schwartz Admits Stealing Cool Prop from The Rise of Skywalker Set
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
Star Wars