Over the last few years, Sam Witwer has left quite an impression in the Star Wars universe, from his debut as Starkiller in The Force Unleashed to playing the wicked Son in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. However, the actor is probably better known these days for his Clone Wars role as Darth Maul. And now, in his latest project LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, Witwer has once again taken up the reins as the villainous Maul -- except this time, it's totally hilarious.
IGN recently got to speak with Witwer about his comedic take on the LEGO Sith Lord, as well as Maul's Clone Wars counterpart, who recently got schooled by Darth Sidious in the episode "The Lawless." We also had a few minutes to talk about Star Wars: Episode VII and the ever illusive third installment of The Force Unleashed...
IGN: I first want to talk to you about The Empire Strikes Out. Obviously, you've had some experience voicing Darth Maul already, but this was "slightly" different from the Maul we know from The Clone Wars. How did you end up voicing this part?
Sam Witwer: Lucasfilm has been extraordinarily good to me. Once they hired me for Darth Maul, that was it. I'm Darth Maul. So if you want Darth Maul and you're getting it approved, I guess I sort of have first rights to refusal or approval. This happened with the Brisk Iced Tea spot, and it happened with this -- both of which I was more than happy to do because aside from Being Human, flexing my comedic muscles was a little bit new. Until I got the Being Human role three years ago, no one had ever let me be funny. So someone said to me, "Hey, do you want to play Darth Maul in this LEGO Star Wars movie? It's a comedic take on the character." Of course I do. I'd seen The Padawan Menace... so I was aware of what they were doing, and I was more than happy to jump in there.
IGN: At this point in your career, it's safe to say that you're pretty heavily ingrained in the Star Wars universe -- as multiple characters. But, like you said, this LEGO special was pretty different from what you've done in the past. What would you say is your favorite part of voicing more humorous roles like this as opposed to the serious stuff?
Witwer: My favorite part of this had to be that "I'm So Awesome" song, of course. But I've done these Star Wars jobs for awhile now, and I'm a Star Wars fan, so I daresay I know Star Wars pretty well. So to be able to kind of poke fun at it is a good time, especially when you don't really go too far with it. I have tremendous respect for George Lucas and Star Wars, but yeah, to take a not so serious approach to it is definitely a rare opportunity, so I was looking forward to it.
IGN: Speaking of the "I'm So Awesome" song, I also heard that you totally improvised that scene, which is pretty hysterical. Was there a lot of improv in the recording room, or was that just one of those spur-of-the-moment-type things?
Witwer: First, I want to give credit to our director Guy Vasilovich -- great guy. He was like, "Listen, when he comes in, can he be singing something?" So I started singing Star Wars tunes, and then he said, "Wait, do you know 'Duel of the Fates?'" I was like, "Of course!" So we were both in it together. Once one of us came up with one idea, the other one was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" I just remember we were laughing our asses off. We were really enjoying it. The cool thing is, Star Wars is such a kid-friendly franchise, and this is another fun way to bring fans to the series. The LEGO franchise has been so ridiculously successful with all of the video games that they've been doing. The fact that those games are just as much fun for adults as they are for kids is really a testament to their design work, but also to the weird, bizarre, chocolate-and-peanut-butter marriage between LEGO and Star Wars. I do not claim to understand that. All I know is that it works, and it's always worked for me -- but I don't know why. I don't know what the hell it is about LEGO that seems to lend itself to Star Wars and vice versa.
IGN: Of course you're known for your immense Star Wars fandom, but what is your relationship like with LEGO Star Wars in particular? Were you a fan of the video games?
Witwer: Obviously, I played with LEGOs when I was a kid, but the Star Wars connection for me is the video games, yes. Someone said, "Listen, pick up LEGO Star Wars." Weirdly enough, I'd love to say, like, "Oh, that's a kids game," but that wasn't my reaction. I somehow got it. I was like, "Oh, it's going to be a comedic Star Wars game. Yeah, okay, I'll check that out." So I picked it up and just laughed the entire time I played it. They're really, really fun games. I think I have all of them.
IGN: What was it like for you in the recording room going from this darker, scarier Darth Maul that we've seen in The Clone Wars to this lighthearted LEGO version? Was it strange for you tapping into this comedic side of the character?
Witwer: It's funny, because I've actually done three different versions of Darth Maul. The Brisk Iced Tea spot -- which is on YouTube -- they said they wanted Darth Maul to be a tiny bit of Ron Burgundy, so I kind of put that in there. The LEGO Darth Maul, they didn't really have a character description, they just had a situation and gave me the script. The Emperor is kind of the father figure, and Darth Vader and Darth Maul are sort of like brothers. So I decided, you know, Darth Maul sounds like this, but if you pitch it like a teenager, he starts sounding a bit like Keanu Reeves. [Laughs] So Darth Maul is kind of like Ted from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. That's sort of where I was going with it.
IGN: Switching gears a little bit, I do want to ask you about The Clone Wars, because Darth Maul had a pretty freaking huge episode a couple weeks ago in "The Lawless." Following his standoff with Darth Sidious, what do you think is going through Maul's head now that he's lost Savage, who's not only his apprentice, but his brother as well?
Witwer: Now that the death has happened, I think the guy is devastated. The irony is that he had just put Obi-Wan Kenobi through exactly the same horror. In fact, he'd done it before. One of the things that I loved about the death of Savage is, if you watch that, it's a mirror image of the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, when Obi-Wan watched helplessly as Darth Maul killed his master. Darth Maul watches helplessly as his brother is murdered by Darth Sidious. I thought it was wonderful. It was such a twisted, awful take. We tell these stories from the point of view of the bad guys, and I think it's a very interesting thing. We see some of that in the Star Wars movies, and we see a lot of that in The Clone Wars. As far as where we're heading right now, yeah, he's in despair, and he's under Darth Sidious' boot heel once again.
IGN: And like you said, it sounds like Sidious has other plans for Maul. Of course, you probably know some of those plans already -- and I know you have to keep your secrets -- but suffice to say this isn't necessarily the end of the road for Darth Maul?
Witwer: No, no it isn't. First of all, Dave Filoni has told me some of the wonderful things that are coming, so I'm very excited. But he said to me, "So we're probably going to kill this guy after a few more episodes, yeah?" And George Lucas was like, "No. No, we're not. We made that mistake once before. We're not doing that again." So Darth Maul is going to figure prominently into the series. I don't know that you're going to see him a lot. It's more of a thing like, "Okay, we know he's out there, we don't know what he's up to, and that's scary." It's something you talk about, something you wish about, but something that when you see, big things happen. You can't bring him back all the time, because then you'd start to overuse him. In terms of what he will be used for in the future, Dave Filoni's told me a piece of that, and yes, it's extraordinarily dramatic and impactful.
Continued on Page 2, as Witwer discusses the future of The Clone Wars' Darth Maul, The Force Unleashed III and Star Wars: Episode VII.
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