Star Wars Rebels was the first animated TV show set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away developed by the Disney-owned Lucasfilm, and we think it's fair to say expectations for the series were initially low. Launched on Disney XD, the show - set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope - would ultimately prove to be far more important to the franchise than expected.
Freddie Prinze Jr. was among the show's leads, playing the Jedi Kanan Jarrus. Serving as Ezra Bridger's Master, he'd eventually lose his sight in a battle with Maul, only to become even more powerful after connecting with the Force.
Kanan's story ended with an appropriately heroic sacrifice, but it could have wrapped up much sooner had Prinze Jr. followed through with a threat to quit the series! Talking on his Wrestling with Freddie podcast (via SFFGazette.com), the actor explained that he felt he had no other choice after learning how little his co-stars were being paid.
"In the world of animation, these animation actors, the voice actors, as people call them - again, they're just actors, they're just not doing live-action stuff - the paychecks are whack," Prinze Jr. explains. "When I did Star Wars Rebels, they weren't paying any of us a dime."
"When I said, 'I'm gonna walk unless you give not only me but the rest of the cast a raise' - and I made sure we all got paid the same - that was the biggest, like, I can't say that's the biggest check any of them ever got on a show, but it was the biggest check that Disney ever paid voice actors per episode."
That's pretty cool, especially when voice actors remain perhaps the most undervalued talents working in Hollywood. Yes, Lucasfilm has cast different people to play many of these characters in the live-action Ahsoka series, but their work laid the foundations for that, ensuring fans fell in love with the Ghost's crew (we're hoping to see Prinze Jr. play Kanan in a flashback).
Let us know your thoughts on Prinze Jr.'s comments in the usual place!