Quotes

[on having to choose between playing Darth Vader and Chewbacca in "Star Wars"]: I took the part of the villain because everyone remembers the villain.

[on his work as the Green Cross Code Man]: "Best job I've ever had."

[Asked if during the making of the original Star Wars trilogy at any point, did he feel claustrophobic due to the mask and suit completely covering his whole body while at Collectormania 10 at Milton Keynes] "The suit was made to fit and was very, very comfortable, so no I didn't feel at all claustrophobic, but the only problem I did experience was that in the mask I got very, very hot!"

(2010) On his fight with prostate cancer: "I've won the fight and I'm feeling better than ever. Everyone was shocked by how well it all (treatment) went".

[on missing out on payments for his Darth Vader performance] I get these occasional letters from Lucasfilm saying that we regret to inform you that as Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) has never gone into profit, we've got nothing to send you.

[on being replaced as the face of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)] Everybody comes up and says, 'It wasn't you they unmasked as Darth Vader, was it?' and I say, 'Well, no, it wasn't actually.' The guy that played Darth Vader was a guy called Sebastian Shaw and Sebastian Shaw was a good friend of Alec Guinness's and, by all accounts, he was out of work. He'd been out of work for a long period and he was having a bad time financially. And he said to Sir Alec, 'Could you do me a favour?' He said, 'I'm destitute. Is there any chance of you having a word with George Lucas to see if there's a possibility of a part in this movie?' So Alec had a word with George and George said, 'The only part we can offer you is the dying Darth Vader.' And all this was done without me knowing anything about it. I mean, I'm watching the movie and they unmask somebody completely different and then you sort of think, 'Well, why wasn't that me?' But then, when you learn how it all came about, you know, if it helped him in any way, then all well and good. But everybody comes up to me and says, 'Why wasn't it you that was unmasked as Darth Vader?' And I say, 'I'll tell you about it later.'

[on not knowing the famous 'I am your father' line from 'The Empire Strikes Back' while making it] I just said 'come and join me and the Dark Side'. I had no dialogue referring to Luke's father. I have never seen a script for 'The Empire Strikes Back' or 'Return of the Jedi'. Everything was kept a secret because they were afraid things would leak. I think only George, Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill knew.