AI replaces Darth Vader’s voice in Obi-Wan Kenobi
Darth Vader sounds a lot younger in Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, thanks to AI. James Earl Jones, who previously played Darth Vader, gave permission.
Darth Vader voice of James Earl Jones reproduced by AI
James Earl Jones performed the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi with his distinctive voice. Despite his diabetes, the 93-year-old actor has lasted a long time in various roles, but has now agreed to have his voice performed by artificial intelligence, which uses old voice recordings.
To this end, he has signed an agreement whereby the Ukrainian start-up Respeecher can have these old archive recordings analyzed by their software, and thus reproduce a true-to-life voice.
Rejuvenation of the voice thanks to AI
In the Star Wars timeline, the Obi-Wan Kenobi story is set in a time when James Earl Jones was 45 years younger. The sound of a person’s voice is, of course, age dependent, and an old man’s voice is different from that of the young man he was then. As a result, Darth Vader sounds a lot younger than in the previous, successful Star Wars episode that appeared in 2019, The Rise Of Skywalker.
Also contributing to James Earl Jones’ decision to let AI take over his role was the scriptwriters’ desire to make the character less prominent.
Ukrainian studio recreates young Darth Vader
This is not Respeecher’s project for the studio. The Ukrainians previously signed on to voice Luke Skywalker in Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
The role of James Earl Jones is not quite finished yet. He will assist the sound engineers and also the screenwriter in the realistic portrayal of the character. The series can now be seen on the streaming platform Disney Plus.
