FrequencyCast Interviews Dave Prowse, Darth Vader

As part of our coverage of the London Film and Comic Con 2012, we were lucky enough to be able to have a chat with the one and only Dave Prowse, who of course plays the ultimate bad guy, Darth Vader.

Dave, born in Bristol, was originally a bodybuilder, was spotted by George Lucas after playing  apart in A Clockwork Orange, and at 6 foot 5 inches, was perfect for either Chewbacca or Darth Vader. Dave also played the Green Cross Code Man in the 1970s, saving potentially thousands of lives. Dave also had a small cameo in the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy TV series, as bodyguard to Hotblack Desiato, the rockstar who was spending a year dead for tax reasons!

We were able to chat with Dave about his career and how he was discovered, whether we was able to hang onto any of the original Star Wars memorabilia, and whether he still enjoys talking about his time filming the original (and best) of the Star Wars movies. Dave spends a lot of his time meeting the fans and discussing his career, and he was a joy to talk to – so open and engaging.

We featured a short version of the interview in Show 78, our August show, but we’d like to share the full interview with you. It’s attached to the bottom of this blog post, and it’s also available as part of our 23 minute round-up of the London Film and Comic Con 2012.

Dave also lets on to us that he’s only seen Star Wars a couple of times, and sci-fi isn’t really this thing.

Of course, as most Star Wars fans know, Dave is only the ‘body’ of Darth Vader, the voice being that of James Earl Jones, and rumour has it that Dave played around with the lines during the filming of the movies, knowing that he was not to be the final voice of the Empire’s ultimate bad guy.

We really enjoyed having a catch with the legend that is Dave Prowse, and we hope you enjoy having a listen to what he has to say. Dave, the ultimate gentleman, even gave up his chair to allow our co-presenter Kelly to have a seat whilst being interviewed. What a guy.

Thanks again to Dave for taking the time to talk to us. We hope to meet him at another convention in a galaxy not that far away some time soon.

(By the way, in case you’re wondering, the lego man image is to avoid using an official LucasFilm image of Darth Vader… a little out of our budget!)