Star Wars: Hidden E.T. Connection in Return of the Jedi Finally Explained

There is little doubt that the Star Wars Universe is filled with extraterrestrials considering that the entire franchise is set in space. But did you know that Return of the Jedi actually had an unexpected connection to one of the most famous aliens in cinematic history? The third film in the original trilogy was connected to E.T. The Extraterrestrial in a way that was hidden in plain sight.

In Return of the Jedi, Leia Organa decided to go on a dangerous mission to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hut. To do so, the princess pretended to be a bounty hunter named Boushh who gives Chewbacca to the gangster. Leia had a clever way to hide her identity. In addition to wearing a mask, her voice was modulated to sound crackly and seemingly male.

But wasn't there something oddly familiar about Leia's voice as Boushh? The bounty hunter's voice was actually provided by radio actress Pat Welsh, who also lent her voice to E.T. According to Screenrant, it is possible that George Lucas had decided to cast Walsh as Boushh's voice after hearing her work on Steven Spielberg's film.

This is one of the coolest connections between two major sci-fi films in history. However, it was almost forgotten. Walsh was not credited for her work in E.T. nor Return of the Jedi. Nevertheless, fans with sharp hearing might still be able to note of her trademark raspy voice that is a result of her heavy smoking.

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