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The Lightsabre Interview Billy Dee Williams
Welcome to
Lightsabre. He’s a card player, a
gambler and a scoundrel, a Q – You’ve been a
part of Star Wars for 27, 28 years. A - 27 years. Q – How interesting have you found it?
Was it anything like you expected, to be a part of something like this? A – Oh yeah, it was real exciting. Of course, working with George Lucas was very exciting. Q – He was a hot
director at the time wasn’t he? A – Uh-huh. I
had seen a movie he did, THX...what’s the rest of it, how
do you say it? Q – 1138. A –
Was it? Q – THX-1138. A – 1138…A? Q – No, that was his
student film. He remade it for
Warner’s. A – No, it wasn’t a student film. Q – The original was,
then he remade it. A – Oh, I see, ok. Anyway, when I saw that I really thought that was an exceptional movie, particularly for that time. So I kind of became a big fan of his. Of course, those other movies he did, American Graffiti. So, when I was asked to do this I thought it was a great idea.
Q – How did that come
about, how did you get the role? A –
I was asked at that time. Irv Kershner came to my house,
we sat and we talked for a long time and that’s how it all happened. Q – Was it written
with you in mind? A – I don’t think so. I pretty much took what they had and decided to create this character who was devoid of the whole racial, ethnic kind of a thing. I really wanted to create a guy that was far beyond that kind of thinking. I wanted to make a really kind of epic hero out of him. That’s generally what I do with most characters I play. And of course, when I got the cape that really did it for me. That was like the key. Q – That was the
dashing part of the character. A – Anyway, I feel very fortunate that I participated in that particular event. Q – No regrets? A – Why? Why would I have regrets? Q – Some people do. It’s
all good? A – Of course. Q – Have you got any special memories from making Empire? Anything that sticks out? A – Ummm (thinks hard about it). Well, the cape. Q – When I wrote down
the questions for this I was reading the making of and there’s a page in
there where you were rehearsing a scene with Carrie Fisher. In the original script she was annoyed with
Lando and slaps him around the face. But she didn’t telegraph it, she actually
slapped you round the face. And you
said ‘You’re supposed to telegraph it!’ and she replied ‘What’s telegraphed?’ A –
Where did you read this? Q – It was in Alan
Arnolds making of book A –
Amazing what people make up. Q – Was that was made
up? I’ve always loved that story. A – If that happened, I swear to God I don’t remember it. Q – It must have been
a good hit then. A –
She never hit me, I don’t remember anything. Q – Oh, that’s a
shame. A – I don’t remember any moment when she slapped
me. The only thing I remember is that
I was always flirting with her, being very charming, all
that kind of stuff. Q – And that fed into
the character because there’s that kind of relationship between the
characters as well. I always got the
impression there was a bit of a flirt going on. A –
Well it was pretty obvious. There was
nothing clandestine about it. Q – What was it like
being the ‘new guy’ coming into that scenario? A – Well, I guess like in any situation when you’re new you try to make the adjustments. Everything worked out ok.
Q – So how do you
feel about the character, because some people feel he was in a no-win
situation really. Darth Vader and Boba Fett on one side… A –
Well I remember picking my daughter up from school, when she was in
elementary school and having arguments with little children about why they
felt he betrayed Han Solo, and I had to explain. Plus I even had to try to explain it to
airline stewardesses. It became pretty
funny, running around justifying the characters existence. But no, he was just a guy that was out
there doing his thing, and all of a sudden these people show up and right
behind them there’s this person, Darth Vader.
And he had to make some choices.
And the choices had to do with their complete demise or he could
prevent their complete demise. He made
a choice and lost everything. So he’s
not such a bad guy. Q – No, I don’t think
so. Did you ever think about the
characters past history? We knew he
was a gambler and a scoundrel, but did you ever think what he might have been
like when he was a younger man? A – Yeah, I guess, yeah. Like that he was always an adventurous kind of person, a maverick. I don’t remember, I’m sure I thought of a lot of things. Q – By the end of
Jedi you’d blown up the Death Star - which is always a cool thing to do –
were you pleased with the way that the character played out? A –
The way he evolved? Q – Yeah. A – Yeah, it was fine. It’s ok. Q – Do you think he
evolved, or was he always that guy? A –
I always hoped that he would do much more in the way of adventures. But George had to resolve the whole Luke
Skywalker issue, so there was really no time to get into new adventures. Q – You’d have been
happy to play him again? A – You mean at this point in my life? Q – Well why
not? Lando’s
still around. A – If it happens, but I’m sure it’s not gonna happen. Yeah, if he was being played as an older gentleman who still ‘has it’, to some degree.
Q – Tell us a little
about your artwork, because I know you are very much
into your art. A – Yeah, as a matter of fact I was in a boat for ten days, one of those Princess Cruise liners. I sold about eighty pieces to this company, and what they do is they put the pieces on these cruise liners and they auction the paintings off, so that’s what I did for ten days, which I really hated. I’m putting together some new pieces now that I really want to put on, I have to change my website, all the other stuff I’ve had on there for quite some time. But also I really want to do an exhibition in LA, I haven’t done one in many, many years. Q – How long have you
been exhibiting then? Has it always
been a passion? A – Yeah,
I’ve always been a painter. When I was
18, 19 years old I won major awards like Q – What dragged you
away from painting towards acting? A – Nothing
ever directed me away from painting. Q – It’s always been
there? A – I
started acting when I was six and a half years old in a Broadway musical, so
it’s been pretty much my whole life.
My life sort of revolves around creativity. I’m not one of those kids who grew up a
gangster, a mug. I was always a nice
little boy who did creative things. Q – Well that’s
fantastic, we’ll let you get some rest. A – Thank
you. Q – And we very much appreciate
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