Terence Stamp Looks Back On His "Boring" STAR WARS Experience; Criticises George Lucas
Well, here's one actor who most certainly WON'T be campaigning for a return in Star Wars: Episode VII! Thanks to director George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace turned out to be a hellish experience for the Superman actor. Read on for details!
"We didn't get on at all," Terence Stamp told Empire Magazine in a recent interview when asked about his time working with George Lucas on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (in which he played Chancellor Valorum). "I didn't rate him that much as a director, really. I didn't feel like he was a director of actors; he was more interested in stuff and effects. He didn't interest me and I wouldn't think I interested him." Ouch. So, Stamp didn't think much of Lucas as a director and as an actor that's an opinion he's more than entitled to. Surely he wasn't all that bad to deal with though was he? Well... "I came all the way back from Australia to do it. I didn't want to but my agent leaned on me and I wanted to meet Natalie Portman because I'd seen her in The Professional. And I did meet her and she was absolutely enchanting. But on the day I'm supposed to do my scene with her, for which I'd travelled halfway around the world, I said, 'Where's Natalie?' And George says, 'That's Natalie,' and points to a bit of paper on the wall. It was just boring." So, regardless of Lucas' involvement - or lack thereof - with Episode VII, don't hold your breath for a return of the actor as the Chancellor!